Loss
by Fantasy's Magic
Summary: Riley is kidnapped, and Ben & Abby do all they can to find him. But when Ben finds Riley months later, he realizes Riley doesn't want to come home. In fact, there are a lot of things Riley doesn't want anymore. Something has happened to him, but what?
1. Chapter 1

**Loss**

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, everything belongs to Disney.

Chapter One

- - -

Riley kicked the door open with his foot, and awkwardly lugged the large box into his apartment. He scrunched up his face as the cardboard pressed against his face, knocking his glasses askew and pushing one end of them into his cheek bone. Opening his eyes as he walked forward, he tried to see where the couch, counter, or table was - anything he could drop this box of cargo on. Spying the low table that lay in front of the couch, he quickly made a beeline for it and unceremoniously dropped the box on it with a 'thud'.

"Finally! Sheesh, the last of the junk is FINISHED!" Riley stretched his arms in the air, a satisfied smile on his lips. Readjusting his glasses, Riley's smile was quick to disappear as he surveyed the rest of his small apartment.

Abigail had wanted a bunch of her stuff from home to be brought over to her and Ben's mansion, and had already gone and made preparations for it to be flown over before realizing that they had nowhere to put it. Riley couldn't understand why they had no place to store her stuff, considering they had a mansion the size of New York, but according to her and Ben, while they had lots and lots of rooms, only a few were accessible at the moment - every other part of the house was in 'dire' need of repair, and so no one could use it. Riley had asked why they didn't just hire someone to fix it, but according to Ben, not just 'anyone' could do that sort of job - they needed some miracle worker or something to do it. It was then that they asked Riley if they could store Abby's stuff at his place until they were able to make room for it, and Riley, being the oh so nice guy that he was, had agreed. It wasn't until a huge truck had pulled up on the street corner and Riley was told that it was full of Abby's stuff did he realize he had made a poor decision.

Riley glared at the massive number of boxes that lay scattered throughout his kitchen and living room, some of which, according to Riley, weighed the size of an elephant.

Yes, a very poor decision indeed.

Sighing, Riley ran a hand through his brown hair and shook his head. Just then, Ben walked through the door, and seeing all of the various boxes scattered all over the place, whistled. He then spotted Riley, and walked over to him.

"Hey Riley, how are you doing?"

Riley looked up at Ben and rolled his eyes.

"Oh fine, just fine. I just only finally came to the realization that I should have said 'no' when you asked me if I wanted to join you on your little treasure hunt, rather than yes."

Ben raised his eyebrows, amused.

"Treasure hunt?"

"Oh, sorry, did I say treasure? I meant when you and your wife asked me to take care of her stuff that you guys apparently had no room to store. Turns out 'my stuff' translates into 'everything I ever owned the first fifty years of my life'."

Ben laughed.

"Better not let Abby hear you say that."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure there are many things I shouldn't let Abby hear."

Ben, seeing that Riley truly was a little miffed at the situation, took another look around the room. It _was_ quite a lot of boxes.

"Hey Riley, I'm sure that we can find another place to put Abby's things if you want. Abby just wanted to make sure her stuff was safe, that's all, and she knew it'd be safe with you."

Riley sighed once more, then seemed to push away his frustration and grinned, secretly pleased that Abby so obviously trusted him - even if it was with stuff she hadn't touched since she'd moved out of her parents house.

"Nah, it's okay. I agreed, so I'll deal with it. Besides, it's not like I really use by bedroom anyway."

Ben grinned and slapped his friend on the back.

"Thanks Riley, we appreciate it."

Riley pushed his glasses back up then said, "So what are you doing today, besides tormenting me?"

Ben walked over to the kitchen island and sat down on one of the stools.

"Nothing really - just stopped by to see if you needed any help, but it looks like you've got everything under control."

"Yup, just have to lug everything into one corner and I'll be done."

"You wanna do that now?"

Riley thought about it for a moment, then shook his head vehemently.

"**No** thank you! I've had enough of boxes for one day. Let's get out of here, shall we?"

Ben laughed as he slid off the chair and headed for the door.

"Sure - where to O Mighty O Riley?"

"How about McDonalds? We haven't been there in a while."

Ben shook his head as the two walked out into the hall and Riley closed the door behind him.

"You have 50 million dollars, you could go to any restaurant in town, and still you choose McDonalds?"

"Ben, Ben. People don't just go to McDonalds because it's cheap - they go because of the burgers! The fries! The chicken mcnuggets! The fries!"

Ben made a face and the two headed down the stairs towards the parking lot.

"I'm afraid there's a lot of people who would disagree with you Riley. Especially about the fries."

Riley looked at Ben as though he had grown a second head.

"What?? How could anyone hate the fries? They're the best part!"

"Well some think that they're too salty, for one thing."

"Bah. Too salty, yeah right. They're just right Ben, they're just right."

Ben grinned.

"Sure Riley, if you say so." The two arrived at Ben's car and Riley headed around to the passenger's side.

"I do say so Ben, I do." Ben drove out of the lot and onto the road, and the two headed for lunch at McDonalds.

- - -

"Hey Chelsea, you have the rag?"

A woman of about 30 or so nodded her head, her red ponytail swinging back and forth.

"Good." The man who had spoken put his hands in his pockets, and the couple walked down the street. After walking a few blocks, they finally came to a halt in front of a old, small brown apartment building. The man looked around for a moment, then pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and looked at it.

"This the place?" Chelsea asked distastefully.

The man put the paper away. "Yup."

"Looks like a dump to me. Couldn't that guy get something better? Don't normal millionaires buy like, castles or something?"

"Hey, if it makes our job easier, then it's fine with me. Come on lets go." He ran a hand through his short, brown hair and grabbed the woman's hand with his other. The two looked as normal as could be as they walked into the building together, seemingly to be simply going back to their apartment. They passed another couple who was heading outside, and the woman named Chelsea tossed them a smile and a little wave. They then headed for the stairs, until they reached the third floor.

"What's the number again?" Asked Chelsea as her eyes scanned the doors on both sides of the hallway.

"Apartment 25, third floor."

"Then it's down here."

The couple quickly picked up the pace, until they had arrived in front of apartment 25. Trying to look as ordinary as possible, Chelsea stretched and pretended to yawn, walking to the man's left side so as to shield him from the security camera that hung from the other end of the hallway. The man abruptly got to work, fiddling calmly with the door handle and the locking system. Chelsea leaned against the wall for a second, then stood up straight, trying to act as though she were any other person who lived there with their boyfriend.

"What's taking so long Matt?" She asked after another few seconds had passed. Matt ignored her and continued fiddling, until finally he turned the handle and the door gently opened. He looked up at Chelsea and grinned.

"See? I know what I'm doing Chels."

The woman rolled her eyes and pushed her way into the room.

"Whatever. Come on."

Matt quickly followed her and closed the door behind him, making sure it was locked just as he had found it. The two walked deeper into the kitchen, and Chelsea kicked one of the boxes with her foot.

"Sheesh! Is this all his stu-." She was stopped in mid-sentence as a hand suddenly slapped her across the face. Eyes narrowing in anger, she touched her stinging cheek and glared fiercely at her boyfriend; she opened her mouth to speak but Matt cut her off.

"Don't you _dare _do that again, do you hear me? You _know _you're not supposed to touch anything! ANYTHING! Geez Chelsea! Sometimes you can be the most stupidest person I've ever met! Do you _want _us to get caught, huh? Do you _want _to blow our cover?!"

Chelsea brought her hand down and abruptly turned around, but she didn't speak. After a moment Matt sighed, and walked over to her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry Chels, I didn't mean to do that. But you have to understand, if even the slightest thing is off in this place, someone could notice, and then we'd be busted. So lets just go and get ready, okay?"

Chelsea remained motionless for a moment, then turned around, a small smile on her half red face.

"Okay."

- - -

Riley swung his legs back and forth as he watched the television from his upside down position on the couch.

"Doesn't that hurt your head Riley?" Asked Abigail as she walked into the room and sat down on a chair, quick to pick up her needle work that lay on the floor beside her.

"You know, I'd have never thought you for one who knits when we first met you." Said Riley, pointedly ignoring her question. "You seemed more of a... bookish type person."

Abigail laughed.

"Well you know, taking one look at you would make someone think you're a 'book person' too."

Riley just stuck his tongue out at her and went back to swinging his legs.

Abigail stared quietly at Riley for a moment, thinking how utterly childish he could be sometimes. At times she wondered if he was really 24, or actually 14. After a few minutes, her thoughts turned to something of a more serious nature. It was something she had been wondering from time to time recently, and she thought that perhaps now when they were alone would be the best time to ask it.

"Hey Riley?"

Riley continued to stare at the tv.

"Hmm?"

"Where's your family? Do they live around here?"

Riley's leg swinging suddenly stopped, and while Abigail couldn't see it, his whole body went rigid. He hardened his stare at the television, then after a moment began moving his legs again. He focussed on the program that was on, hoping that Abigail would think he hadn't heard her and was actually interested in the film.

"Riley?"

Riley inwardly groaned. No such luck.

"Nah, they're back in Wisconsin."

He could tell that Abigail was trying to think up something else to say about them, and he hoped that she wasn't especially curious this evening. Like Ben, once Abigail got on to something, she wouldn't quit until she was satisfied with whatever results she had found.

"Who's all there? Just you're mom and dad, brothers, sisters? You know Riley, I don't exactly know a lot about your family. Do you have a lot of siblings, or are you an only child?"

Riley forced his legs to keep moving, and forced his eyes to remain on the tv - he refused to look anywhere near Abigail.

"Mom and dad are there, as well as my older brother and younger sister." It wasn't a lie. Not in the least. They were definitely still in Wisconsin.

"Oh? How old are your brother and sister?"

"You know Abby, I actually have to go to the bathroom, so this little interrogation of yours will have to wait." Until never.

"I hardly think three questions count as an interrogation."

Riley swung his legs over his head and flipped over, landing on his feet. Standing up, the techi made his way for the bathroom.

"Well news flash Abs, it is definitely an interrogation. Just keep to your grandma knitting, okay? You'll go farther in life."

Abigail just shook her head and smiled.

Riley headed into the kitchen, where Ben was currently typing slowly on his laptop. Riley paused for a moment, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared at Ben's hands. After a moment Ben looked up, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"You know, you type awful sl-."

"Slow; yes, I know Riley. You've only told me every time you see me using a computer."

"Well it's as true now as it was the first time I said it. Honestly Ben, you could get a whole lot more done if you just learned how to type. I mean come on! You're practically typing with just one finger!"

A shot of annoyance passed through Ben, and he frowned at Riley.

"Oh shut up Riley. Not everyone has to be a complete geek like you, you know."

Riley remained silent for a moment, and Ben turned back to his typing. After a second he could hear Riley moved, and he watched out of his peripheral vision as he turned around and started heading towards the bathroom. Ben sighed, knowing that he had been a bit harsh, and looked up to apologize, but Riley was already gone.

But he couldn't help but think that Riley was at least a bit at fault here. He really didn't have to constantly tell him what was wrong with his computer skills every time he saw him at a laptop or their home computer. He was fine with his technological abilities, so why couldn't Riley be? A disgruntled voice came from down the hallway where the bathroom was, _"Stupid sink! Take that!"_ Ben couldn't help but roll his eyes. Even his _bathroom _wasn't good enough for him. Ben was beginning to think that inviting his friend over here had been a bad idea. He never got much work done, and he could never really spend any alone time with Abby.

Just then the phone rang. Ben reached over and picked up the receiver, putting it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ben Gates?"

"Yes?"

"This is Ryan Collins from State Hall, and I was wondering if you could possibly come and speak this evening at our State dinner. I know it's short notice, but our previous speaker just cancelled on us, and we really need someone to fill in. Do you think you could do it?"

Ben discarded the idea at first, but after a brief moment of thinking, he decided to change his mind. Ryan Collins was actually a well known acquaintance of his, and had gotten him out of a jam on a couple of occasions. Besides, Ben thought, he needed a break from the... evening, anyway.

"Uh, sure Ryan. When do you need me?"

"Actually, if you came right now, it'd be greatly appreciated."

Ben thought it over for another moment, then nodded.

"Sure. Could you just give me half an hour?"

"Of course. The guests are arriving now, but we won't need you on until 7."

Ben agreed, and the two said their goodbyes. Ben quickly got up and told Abigail the news, and while she was a little miffed at first that he hadn't discussed it with her, she agreed to come along anyways.

"But wait, aren't you going to ask Riley?"

"Actually Abby, I was thinking -."

"Ask Riley what?"

Ben and Abigail turned around to Riley, who was standing in the living room entrance, his eyebrows raised. He walked over to the couch and plopped down on it.

Ben glanced at Abigail, and he knew she had known what he'd been going to say.

"Er, nothing. Just that Abigail and I actually have an appointment tonight that we have to run to. I was just reminding her about it."

"Really? You never told me that. If I had known, I wouldn't have-."

"Yeah, well, I guess I forgot. It's at the State Hall, have to speak there at 7, so we really have to be going now."

Riley looked at his watch.

"Well it's 6:15 now. You're cutting it kinda close, aren't you?"

Ben smiled awkwardly.

"Well we weren't exactly thinking we'd be having you for supper, Riley."

Riley bit his lower lip and looked down at the floor for a second. Abigail clenched her fingers around her knitting needles that now lay motionless on her lap, resisting the urge to say anything.

A few more seconds passed, and Riley slowly got up.

"Oh. Sorry, but, I didn't realize you were bus-."

Ben was already heading to his room where his black suit hung in his closet.

"Do you think you could just call a cab to come pick you up? It'd be pretty hard to have to drop you off. Thanks."

Riley bit his lower lip again, then quickly smiled.

"Uh, sure!" He called, then turned to Abigail.

"See ya Abby, have fun tonight."

Abigail smiled sadly, putting her knitting on the floor and standing up.

"Bye Riley. We'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, bye." Riley grabbed his jacket off the counter and quickly slipped on his shoes before heading outside. Though just before he ran out, he noticed something large sticking out of the trash can. Curious, Riley tilted his head to the side and tried to make out what it was, before realization dawned on him.

It was his book. The one he'd had delivered specially for Ben. He hadn't been able to wait until he'd read it - until he had called him up and raved about how good it was. That call had never come, and it wasn't until later that Riley found out that Ben hadn't even read it yet; he had to practically remind him that he even had a copy, something that neither him, nor even Abigail seemed to care much about. But still, he had hung onto it, which meant something to Riley, however small.

Well, until now.

"Riley, you still here?" Asked Ben from the kitchen as he fixed up his suit's sleeve. Riley quickly looked up at him and grinned.

"Just leaving Ben. Have a good time tonight!"

Ben smiled.

"Yeah, I definitely will. This is only like... the sixteenth dinner I've spoken at in the past two months."

"Well have fun all the same. See ya."

"Bye."

Once out on the steps, Riley fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialled the taxi service. He scuffed his shoe against the stone pathway impatiently, until finally a few minutes later a yellow taxi drove up onto the driveway. Getting into the car, Riley couldn't help but think that this had not been exactly the way he pictured ending his day. _But then again_, he thought,_ a lot of my days are actually a lot like this. Sudden departures and whatnot. Ah, story of my life._

By the time Riley got out of the car and onto his street, any remnants of a bad mood that he'd had had disappeared, and he whistled happily as he walked inside his apartment building. Making his way up to the third floor, Riley fished out his key and jangled it in the lock, before turning the handle and walking inside. He turned on the lights and closed the door behind him, making his way to the counter where he dropped his keys with a clang. Turning towards the window, he stretched and yawned.

What happened next almost occurred too fast for his brain to register. A pair of hands suddenly wrapped around his body, binding his arms to his side. Riley's first reaction was to struggle violently, but the sudden attack had surprised him, and that brief moment between realization and action was all that was needed for another pair of hands to press something to his face. Riley attempted to yell, but the piece of cloth that lay over his nose and mouth stopped him from doing so. Riley, unsure of what was happening, abruptly breathed in, trying to gather as much air as he could. Then suddenly, everything seemed to go black. Black spots appeared in his vision, and his movements quickly decreased. He tried to move his arms and legs, but found that they wouldn't respond to him. Everything seemed to be going numb, and a loud humming noise started in his ears. The whole world seemed to tilt, until he found that he was looking at everything from an odd side angle. Hands came and went in front of his vision, but the cloth remained over his lower face. The last thing he saw before passing out was a grinning face underneath a head of red hair.

- - -


	2. Chapter 2

**Loss**

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, everything belongs to Disney.

Chapter 2

A **big** thank you to all who reviewed! Please continue to review, because it lets me know people are actually interested in the story, and it gives me good reason to continue writing it.

- - -

Ben put his arm around Abigail's waist, and smiled as another camera flashed and took his picture. The evening had turned out rather well, with lots of guests and lots of good food, and no one had seemed too upset that the original guest speaker had cancelled and Ben had taken his place. Ben usually disliked these social functions, but tonight he had been more than glad to get out of the house and the stresses of life. Or, more specifically, away from Riley. While he considered the younger man to be one of his best friends, he was still quite a bit younger, and sometimes Ben felt that gap of age quite clearly. He enjoyed Riley's company, he really did, but sometimes he just really wanted to spend an evening with just him and Abigail - no interruptions, and no unexpected visitors.

But Ben couldn't help but think that something was wrong. Something was... off; but he didn't quite know what. Perhaps it was the food he ate (it _was _pretty high fancy food); or maybe it was the fact that he hadn't received any text messages from Riley in the past three and a half hours. Usually Riley always texted him when he was at these events - and Ben had always been happy for the distraction. When things got particularly boring or long, he could always whip out his phone and read Riley's little nonsensical notes. They usually were nothing more than random bits of information that Riley had found off the internet, or stray quotes he'd picked up from a television show he was watching. It was especially useful when Ben was talking to some rich couple or such, who were asking him already well over-asked questions about the treasure and his experiences with treasure hunting. He would just pause their conversation, and take out his phone and pretend to be checking something important, when in reality he was just reading or replying to one of Riley's texts. So Ben was a bit concerned when he didn't get a single text at all from his young friend the entire evening. He thought about sending Riley a message, but quickly discarded the idea. Besides, the evening was almost over anyway.

When Ben and Abigail arrived home an hour later, it was almost midnight. The sun had long since gone down, and when Ben unlocked their house, all was dark and silent. Abigail flicked on the lights and set her purse down on the counter, looking around and making sure everything was still in place. Satisfied that everything was as they left it, Abigail moved to take off her coat when she noticed the top of garbage can lifted slightly up. It was more of a passing glance - it wasn't until she looked at it a second time did she see a book half hidden by the trash can's lid. Curious as to see which of her books her lovely husband throughout this time, Abigail walked over to the trash and pressed the bottom lightly with her foot, lifting the lid fully up. Turning her head to read the title, Abigail stood still as she realized what book it was.

"_BEN!!"_

Ben, who had been in his and Abigail's room taking off his tie, wondered for a moment who had done what to his wife, and who was going to pay for it. Walking out, he started to unbutton the front of his shirt, and asked,

"What is it Abby?"

Abigail lifted the book from the trash and held it in front of her for Ben to see.

"What, may I ask, was this doing in the trash?"

Ben read the title of the book, then the authors name. He wanted to smack himself. The book! He had thrown it out this morning because he had been in a bad mood and didn't see a use for it. A few hours later he knew he had to get it back, but then Riley had already come over, and he just... forgot about it.

He looked back up at Abby, remorse strewn across his face.

"Well, see, I wasn't ever going to read it, so I figured I might as well throw it out. I-."

"You _threw it out? _Ben how could you?! Riley worked hard on this book, and the least you can do is show him some _respect_ and read it! Even just KEEPING it would have been better than this!"

"Abby, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thrown it out. Really, I had meant to take it back out today, but I forgot. Honestly Abby, that's the truth!"

Abigail looked inquiringly at Ben, then finally laid the book on the counter, sweeping her hand across the cover.

"Alright Ben, I believe you. But it's not me who needs your apology - it's Riley."

Ben ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Don't you think it'd be better if we just let this go? I mean, Riley probably didn't even see the book, so there's really no point."

Abigail took off her shoes and finished hanging her coat up. Taking the book back in her hands, she walked over to Ben and pushed the literature to his chest.

"And what if he did see it Ben? What if he saw it, and now thinks the worst of us?"

Ben shook his head and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"Abigail, I know you have a penchant for looking through other people's garbage, but I don't think Riley is too keen on that idea."

Abigail frowned, and gave Ben a glare.

"Well you just better hope for your sake Benjamin Gates, that he didn't see it."

Ben leant down and kissed her.

"Don't worry Abs, I'll put the book in plain sight the next time he comes over, and that way if he did see it, he'll know we didn't throw it out. And if he hadn't seen it, then he'll just be happy we're looking at it."

Abigail rolled her eyes and smiled and the two kissed once more.

- - -

The darkness that had invaded his vision for so long, slowly began to ease away - a blinding light taking its place. Wondering how late he had slept in, Riley opened his eyes groggily and slowly turned his head to the left, where his digital watch laid. Squinting, he tried to make out the neon numbers, but was distracted by the freezing cold that was seeping into his back. His eyes closed again, and a cough racked his chest. Trying to sit up, Riley moved his arms, but found that he couldn't. Finally opening his eyes all the way, he looked down at his arms, and saw that his wrists were bound with a thick, yellow rope. Confused, he tried to slip his right hand out, but it stayed closely wrapped with his left. Realizing that this didn't seem right, Riley managed to sit up, and looked around.

He was in an average sized, white walled room, with a cement flooring. A small, closed closet stood across from him, the kind that had open grates on the front, and was opened by being pushed to the side. Not too far beside it was a door, shut and with no light coming from any cracks. Turning his head to the right, Riley found that every bone in his body was as stiff as a board, and when he moved it seemed his entire body ached at once. A lone lightbulb hung from the ceiling, a thin cord hanging down beside it. On the right end of the room was the only window, with a makeshift cloth curtain being the only thing to keep people from looking in, but see through enough to let enough light into the room to be able to see.

Riley had no clue whatsoever where he was. He racked his brain, trying to figure out what the last thing was he could remember. He had been talking with Ben, and he had been upside down - no, wait. He had been coming home from Ben and Abby's, and he had walked up the stairs to the third floor... he had opened his door, and then-.

A stabbing pain shot through Riley's head, and he immediately squeezed his eyes shut and brought his head down to his knees, a small "ouch" escaping his lips. He breathed in slowly, and exhaled quickly. Another cough escaped him, and he groaned.

Just then, the door opened up, and a blinding light shone into the room, right into Riley's face. Riley, who had looked up when the door had opened, covered his eyes the best he could with his tied hands, trying both not to look at the light, but see who it was that had just walked in.

"Riley, Mark, Poole." Said a low, pleased voice.

Riley, his eyes finally adjusted somewhat to the light, looked up and saw before him a tall, broad man who looked to be about in his late forties, early fifties. His black hair had obvious white and gray in it, and it was starting to thin around the front and sides. The man took a few steps forward and reached up, tugging on the string and turning on the lightbulb. Riley tried to get to his feet, but could find no leverage.

"Who are you?" The young techi asked. He tried to think if he knew this man, as it wasn't everyday someone used his full name - not even Ben or Abby knew his middle name (they both had asked numerous times, but Riley had successfully diverted them each time the subject came up).

The man walked over to Riley, then crouched down in front of him so that they were eye level. Riley pushed himself back, trying to get as far away from the man as possible.

"Mister Poole - er, can I call you Mister Poole?"

Riley didn't say anything - he just stared at the man with wide, defiant eyes.

"Well I'll take that as a yes... well Mister Poole, my name is Anthony Brians. How are you doing today?"

Riley glared at the man, twisting his wrists in a weak attempt to free his hands.

"Oh, I'm doing fine. Just fine. Except maybe for the fact that I'm in somebody's basement, and I don't remember ever coming here on my own. Oh, and this rope is digging into my wrists - that's sort of unpleasant too."

Brians laughed.

"They told me you were feisty one. I've seen you on tv, too - my, you sure do have a tongue on you." Brians chuckled, then patted Riley's cheek with his hand. "Ah, but don't worry. We'll fix that soon enough, soon enough..."

Riley, not knowing what to make of this statement, pushed himself back against the wall, and was finally able to lever himself onto his feet. Brians looked up, then stood to his own feet, and Riley found that the man towered over him by at least a good foot or more. Not deterred by this though, Riley spoke out in a loud voice.

"What do you want with me?! Let me go! I-."

Riley was abruptly cut off as a hand slapped his face. Hard.

His cheek stinging, Riley turned his face back to Brians, his eyes wide at the sudden use of force. Expecting to see anger on his captors face, Riley was surprised to see that there was instead a hint of sadness, as though Brians was... not really guilty or remorseful, but rather as though he hadn't truly wanted to slap the younger man.

"Riley, Riley... can I call you Riley?"

Riley stared at the man, confused anger splashed across his face. What was up with this guy?

Brians stared at the captive for a moment, as though thinking something carefully over. Riley wanted to say something, and so he did. But not before he glanced at the open door, then back at the man standing before him.

"No, you _can't _call me Riley!" Without much of a second thought, Riley kicked the man's leg as hard as he could, then dashed around him and towards the door.

"OW! You stupid little-."

The stairs were almost immediately to his right, and a closed door was before him. Riley quickly turned and started to run up the stairs, when suddenly he crashed into something; that something pushed him, sending him backwards down the stairs, landing hard on his back.

Brians came out into the small hallway yelling,

"STOP HIM! STO-."

He paused when he saw that Riley was now on the floor before him, and he looked up to see Matt standing on the stairs, looking slightly amused.

"Already letting him go, Brians? I would've thought you'd have at least be able to handle him for thirty minutes. I guess I was wrong."

Riley looked up at Brians, who's face had contorted into an angry, twisted snarl.

"You did your job Kendle, now let me do mine!"

Matt took a few more steps down the stairs, before coming to a stop right in front of Riley's head. Seeing that this was a bad position to be in, Riley quickly sat up, and was about to try and stand to his feet, when a foot suddenly came out and kicked him in the gut.

"Really Anthony - this kid is all of ours, not just yours. You do your part and we'll do ours, okay?"

Riley yelled and doubled over in pain, taking a few deep breaths before attempting to look up. Seeing what he was doing, Matt kicked him again, this time in the head.

"Uh, uh Riley my boy - no trying to get away. You want to stay here with us."

White stars invaded Riley's vision, and he swayed on his knees, before another kick came to his side, then another, and another. Riley yelled out in pain each time he was hit, and was vaguely aware of someone dragging him back inside the basement room. Riley was thrown up against the hard wall, so hard that the wind was nearly knocked out of him. He could hear someone shouting, but was unable to figure out what or who it was. Any desire to know anything left him, as another blow came to his body - his chest, stomach, legs, and head.

Hours passed. Or minutes. Riley couldn't exactly figure out which. After one last blow, he fell over to his side, barely conscious. Matt lifted him back up, and tried to make him stand to his feet, but to no avail; so he put up with leaving him sitting on the ground. He could see the techi's eyes twitch, and knew that he was still awake.

"Hey. Hey kid, look at me."

Riley's ears were buzzing - loudly. He could hear someone calling his name, and automatically he opened his eyes. He could see one of his captors - at least, he thought there was more than one. Maybe there had only ever been one, and he was just imagining a second.

The person in front of him smiled when he saw that his eyes were open.

"Hey kid - how do you feel?"

Riley coughed, and glared the best he could at his captor.

"Let me out of here you...you freak..." Riley coughed again, but was silenced as a fist punched him hard across the face. He let out a weak cry, unable to keep himself silent.

"Now, now Riley, we don't say things like that here... freak is such a strong word, you know..."

A flash of anger welled up, and Riley spat in the man's face, his struggling taking on new life, as he twisted and turned and moved as much as he could.

"LET ME OUT! Let me _go!!_ People know who I am! They'll come looking-."

Hands grabbed his jaw, and twisted until Riley couldn't look anywhere but in Matt's face. Matt glared at his captive, and Riley tried to twist out of his grasp, his eyes wide as the rush of adrenaline abruptly left him, leaving fear to finally begin gripping his heart. But what he couldn't get was they way that Matt was staring at him - as though he were actually _sorry _for him, in some strange, messed up way.

"Riley... do you honestly think anyone will come for you?"

Riley tried to kick at Matt with his feet, but was rewarded with a swift punch to the side. He gasped for breath, tired and weak from the brutal beatings that he had already been given.

Matt shook his head sadly.

"Riley, no one's going to come for you. You _have_ to understand that."

Not caring that he'd probably get hit again, Riley spoke out,

"Ben will come. Benjamin Gates, and Abigail Gates too. Know who they are? They'll bring the police, the FBI, th-."

Another slap across the cheek.

"Don't you think I know who your friends are, Riley Poole? I know _every. Single. Thing. About you_." Matt punctuated his words with shoves against Riley's face, which he still had gripped in his hand.

Riley stared at Matt with wide eyes. He didn't have a clue who he was dealing with. He didn't know how far he could be pushed, what kind of things he could do... what things he had done. He watched as Matt seemingly searched his eyes, as though looking or some answer that Riley wouldn't give. After a moment he spoke.

"Do you believe me Riley? Do believe me when I say that your friends won't come for you?"

Riley just glared at the man, and struggled as hard as he could, but knowing that he wouldn't get anywhere.

Matt laughed at his vain attempts for freedom, then stood to his feet. Turning halfway around, he seemed to signal for someone. Turning back, he grinned good naturedly at Riley.

"Well since you won't believe me, I thought I'd bring in someone who might be able to convince you."

A stranger, who looked to be anywhere between his thirties and forties, walked into the room, pulling along a trolley covered by a large cloth. When he saw the younger man, he grinned.

"I really think you're going to like this. I've looked up some techniques on the internet, in books. I've really been studying, I have."

Riley watched, fear seizing his heart as ideas swarmed through his head as to what was going to happen.

Matt walked over to the trolley and patted it lightly.

"Sometimes, some lessons are just really hard to learn. They have to be taught swiftly, and taught well." Matt turned his head to look back at Riley. "Don't worry, this guy is a really good teacher."

As the stranger began to uncover the cloth, Riley's body began to sweat, and his eyes widened even more. He began to push himself with his feet, ignoring the distress in his legs and torso as he moved away from the other two men. Matt just smiled at him, then turned back to the stranger.

"Not _too _badly, you hear? You know how we like it."

The man just grunted, and with that Matt left. But just as he was about to disappear from the room, he turned to Riley with a smile.

"Have fun Riley! I really hope you see things our way soon."

Riley let out a cry as the door closed, leaving him in the room alone with the unknown man. Pushing himself against the wall, he tried to get to his feet, but collapsed when his legs refused to support him. Matt must have hurt him more than he thought. He wondered randomly if it was like that for everyone - not noticing all your wounds until long after they were afflicted.

He watched as the man seemed to fiddle with the objects on the trolley, the cloth now laying strewn across the floor, forgotten. whistled for a few minutes, then suddenly turned around to face Riley - a foreign metal object in his hands, and a smile on his face. He walked over to the light and tugged on the string, cloaking the room in darkness, and leaving only the moonlight to light the room. He began to walk over to Riley, holding what Riley now saw as a whip.

"Well Mister Poole, lets get started, shall we?"

- - -

Not a whole lot of Ben and Abigail, but I'll try and remedy that next chapter : )

Hope this lived up to your guys' expectations! This story _is _going somewhere, and isn't just random Riley torture. Though that can be good too :p

Review?

(Reviewing tells me if you want more of the story, and if you're interested in it and want it to continue. So please review!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Loss**

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, everything belongs to Disney.

A/N

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I appreciate them VERY much! In the future I'll try and reply to those that have questions. So please keep the reviews coming! Again, thank you!!

And sorry for the delay! I had written Riley's scene a long time ago, but then I had to write Ben and Abby's, and they just refused to let me write them. So naturally, it took a while. But with some convincing, I was able to get them moving, and I could finally finish chapter three. So here it is! Enjoy!

Chapter 3

- - -

It was by late afternoon that Ben had finally decided to give Riley a call. He hadn't heard from the younger man since he had left the evening before, and Ben had to admit he was a bit curious as to why Riley hadn't phoned and asked how the evening had went. Usually he would at least text message Ben, asking how speaking in front of hundreds of people went, and if the food was any good or not. But Riley hadn't so much as _e-mailed _him - something he usually did because he was on the computer so much.

"Maybe he just has things to do," offered Abigail when she saw how distracted Ben was. "He has a life outside of his friends, you know."

"Yeah," admitted Ben, "But I'm not so sure he has a life outside of his computer. Honestly, I don't even think the kid has gone on a camping trip! The farthest away he's been from technology was probably when he was with us looking for the treasure."

"Now Ben," said Abigail, standing up from the couch and walking over to her husband, "You don't know that for sure, so don't go around accusing him of being a completely ignorant person who has no clue what being in the woods is like."

Abigail put her arm on Ben's shoulder and rubbed it gently.

Ben smiled and brought Abigail into a hug.

"Ah, maybe you're right. I'm probably just overreacting..."

Abigail looked at him for a moment, then smiled.

"But you're still worried. Fine, Ben, give him a call."

Ben reached for the phone that lay on the counter, then brought his hand back.

"No, you're right. I don't have to worry about Riley all the time. He's a big kid, he can take care of himself."

Abigail just shook her head.

"Ben, either you call him now, or I'll call him. I'm not going to deal with you running your hand through your hair all day, and tearing it out before it's time."

Ben grinned and walked over to the counter, picking up his cell and beginning to dial Riley's number.

"Besides," Said Abigail quietly, "It's not like him to ignore us for so long."

Ben's grin turned into a triumphant smile.

"Hah! See, I knew you were concerned too."

Abigail just rolled her eyes with a smile and went over to the couch to sit down.

Ben waited as the phone rang. It was after the fourth ring that uncertainty began to creep into Ben's mind. Where was Riley? Usually the kid picked up on exactly the second ring - sometimes sooner, but no later. Ben waited a moment more, then suddenly the ringing stopped, and Ben breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his friend's voice.

"_Hello?"_

Ben looked at Abigail and gave her the thumbs up.

"Hey Riley, I was wonderi-."

"_Do you ever get the ones where someone says, "Hello!", and there's a long pause, so you think you're talking to an actual person, then you begin speaking and after you say about two words you hear, "I can't come to the phone right now." I really hate that!"_

The voice recorded message ended, and right after it came a 'beep!'.

It took a moment for Ben to gather his thought's, then he finally said,

"Hey Riley, it's Ben. I hate you're voice mail by the way, I don't know when you changed it but you should change it back to the normal ones - it would make my life a lot easier. Anyway, I was just wondering where you were, and uh... what you were doing today. Give me a shout, okay? Bye."

Ben snapped his phone shut, glaring at it for a moment, as though blaming it for Riley having tricked him, even when he was not there.

"Voice mail?" Said Abigail looking up at Ben from her seat on the couch.

Ben nodded and walked over to her, sitting down beside her.

"Yeah, I left a message."

"So I heard."

Ben paused for a moment, then said, "You know it's not like Riley to miss a phone call in the middle of the afternoon."

"Maybe his cell is dead."

"No, Riley always keeps his phone charged, I _know _that."

Abigail snuggled closer to Ben, putting her feet on the cushions.

"You know Ben, people _do _miss phone calls from time to time. Even computer geeks like Riley." Ben wrapped an arm around his wife and sighed.

"Yeah, but...it's-."

"Riley, yes, I know. Look, why don't we wait until the evening. If we still haven't heard a word from Riley, then we'll go over to his apartment and see what's up." After a moments thought, Abigail added, "He didn't say he had anything planned today, did he?"

Ben shook his head.

"No, not that I know of. If he _was _busy today, I'm sure it would have somehow came up one way or the other. He likes to complain, you know."

Abigail smiled.

"Yes, I sure know that. But that's our Riley, and we love him for it."

Ben grinned.

"Yup - that's Riley."

What remained of the afternoon quickly went by, and soon the evening was upon them. At around six thirty, after they had eaten, Ben and Abigail had gotten into their car and started driving to Riley's apartment.

When they arrived they quickly got out of the car, and seeing the wind had picked up and dark clouds were swiftly rolling in, they made a quick dash to the entrance, right before rain began pelting down onto the ground.

"Whoo, that was lucky." Said Abigail and a chill ran through her body from the cold.

"I would say so. Come on, his apartment is on the third floor."

Abigail rolled her eyes and walked out in front of Ben towards the stairs.

"I know where his apartment is Ben, I've been here before, believe it or not."

"Well I'll go with 'not'. I don't think I've seen you enter this building more than three times, so it's not remarkable that I would think you don't know the way."

Abigail just ignored him and the two began walking up the stairs.

When they reached Riley's apartment, Ben brought out his key that Riley had given to him, and in a moment the door was opened and the couple walked inside. Ben flicked on the light switch, and the two got their first glimpse at apartment.

Boxes of all shapes and sizes were scattered around the kitchen and living room, and only stopped at the entrance into the hallway. The curtains were drawn shut, and nothing electronic was on - something that Ben found a bit disturbing, because Riley usually had at least _something _electronic buzzing and doing something. Whether it was a laptop downloading software or songs, or a tv spouting shows from the Disney channel, something somewhere was _always _going on in Riley's world.

"Riley?" Abigail called, taking a few steps forward into the room. Her foot collided with one of the boxes, and she quickly moved to the side, crashing once more into another box.

"Goodness Ben! I mean, I'm thankful that Riley was willing to take my stuff and all, but you can barely walk in here! How can he make his food?"

Ben walked past Abigail, a hastiness in his step.

"I don't know. RILEY?!"

As Ben went to check out the rest of Riley's small apartment, Abigail took a moment to get a good look around the place that Riley called home.

It was bigger than most apartments, Abigail had to admit. Though not as big as someone with 50 million dollars would be expected to live in. In fact, Abigail was pretty sure that Riley had been living here _before _he had gotten that money, which meant that the place couldn't have cost that much - unless Riley had always been secretly rich, something that Abigail highly doubted, considering his choice of jobs in the past.

After a moment Ben returned, his face downcast and his eyebrows creased in worry. Although she knew the answer, Abigail asked,

"No luck?"

Ben shook his head.

"No. And I haven't seen his phone anywhere, so it must still be with him."

"Where could he be?"

"I don't know. But I'll admit Abigail, I'm worried. Call me what you want, but I still say this isn't usual with Riley - he always gives at least a _hint _to where he's going and what he's doing."

Abigail paused, thinking back to the last few hours they had been with Riley, trying to think if there was anything he had said that mentioned going somewhere. Frowning, she asked,

"You don't think he was... too terribly upset that he would just leave, do you?"

Ben turned to her, confusion written on his face.

"Upset? What would he be upset about?"

Abigail let out a sigh of frustration. _Boys. _

"About how you totally blew him off yesterday! And don't say you didn't, because you did! And he probably saw the book, and-."

"_Blew him off?? _Abigail I_ DIDN'T _blow Riley off! I was called and asked to go speak, and I couldn't say no-."

"Couldn't say no?!" Abigail was getting officially mad now, the frustration of Riley's disappearance finally starting to rub off on her. "Ben, you were already being horrible to Riley BEFORE that guy called! Then as soon as that guy _did _call, you said yes faster then when you said yes on our wedding day!"

Ben glared at Abigail, taking a few angry steps towards her.

"I was BEING POLITE, Abigail, something you wouldn't know much about!"

Abigail raised her eyebrows and scoffed.

"Oh, don't you _dare _start throwing insults at me like a child, Benjamin Gates! Don't you _dare!"_

With nothing to immediately refute against, Ben was able to think about the last thing Abigail had said, and when he remembered, his glare returned once more, and in full force.

"And the _book?! _You're bringing up that stupid book again?! We've been through this Abigail, Riley doesn't _CARE _about the book! So if he saw it-."

"Doesn't care? Doesn't CARE?! Ben, he WROTE that book! He _WROTE _it! I'm pretty sure he would care at least a little bit, since he bothered to write it in the first place! And the whole world's not like you Ben, Riley actually has _FEELINGS!!"_

"OH YEAH?! WELL-."

The two were abruptly interrupted from their fight when Ben's phone suddenly went off, singing the tune from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - one of Ben's favourite movies.

The two remained still for a moment, still glaring at each other, until Ben finally reached into his pocket and took out his phone. His eyes quickly scanned the screen to see who the caller was, hoping that it was Riley. Seeing that it was a private number, he flipped the phone open and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mister Gates?"

Ben's eyes widened, and Abigail raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Agent Sedusky!"

Abigail's own eyes widened at the name.

"Yeah Ben, it's me. I'll get right to it - have you seen Riley Poole recently at all?"

Suddenly the world seemed to hold it's breath, and Ben's doubts concerning Riley suddenly morphed into right out fear.

"Actually, Abigail and I are at his apartment right now, we've actually be looking for him -."

"Good. I'll come over with some of my men right away. Just stay where you are and we'll meet you there."

"Agent Sedusky, what's all this abou-."

But the man had already hung up.

Closing his phone, Ben turned to Abigial, worry scattered all across his face.

"Agent Sedusky's coming here."

Abigail's hand shot to her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Oh no - it... it's about Riley, isn't it?"

Ben looked away, running a hand through his hair.

"I think it is Abigail... I think it is."

- - -

_**Seven Days Later**_

- - -

He didn't know how long it had been since he'd come here. To the best of his ability, he figured it had been a week. He knew he could very easily be wrong, but he figured though that he had a pretty good handle on how many days had passed, since he had been aware of almost all the nights turning to days, and days turning to nights. But maybe he didn't. He wasn't so sure what was real and what was not anymore. Maybe he had really been here a month, and he simply hadn't noticed. Or maybe it had only been one day. Maybe he had just been brought an hour ago.

Maybe it was all just a dream.

They let him sleep, but only for a few hours at a time. Throughout the night they would wake him, either by simply kicking him, or yelling in his ears. They never stayed to a schedule, so his body never got used to a particular time of waking up. They constantly told him that Ben and Abigail weren't coming for him; that they didn't care about him, and that he didn't deserve to be rescued anyway. At first Riley vehemently fought back; said that his friends _would_ come, that everything they said about them weren't true. But now he wasn't so sure. It was getting harder and harder to honestly refute them, to believe what he was saying whenever he would talk back to them.

Riley groggily moved himself to the wall. He didn't have the strength to stand, at least, not any strength he wanted to waste, so he pushed himself with his feet until his back was to the corner of the walls. Here, he was able to completely lay back and relax himself, without having to worry about falling over. When he was settled, he rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the stubble beginning to grow on his chin. Riley grimaced. If he had no other indicator of what time it was, he could at least tell how long it had been since he'd last shaved. He wrapped his arms around himself, a shiver running through his body. He glanced at the door, wondering when it would open again. He never knew when they would come, or when they'd leave. Leaving him alone however, only allowed their captive to think about all that they had said to him; allowing him to wonder if what they said was really, in the end, true.

It wasn't just his friends that these people talked about, they talked about Riley himself as well. While hitting him they would tell him that he was worthless, that nobody wanted him, that he was a stupid geek that no one had ever actually liked. Riley had also refuted this at first, knowing full well that he'd had many friends that had liked him. But as time wore on, and as Matt and the others began to say more and more things that hit straight at home, saying things that Riley had long thought about before, well, he wasn't so entirely sure they were wrong. His thoughts turned to what had happened last night, when Matt had taken his turn at staying with his captive.

_Flash Back_

_Matt kicked Riley in the side._

"_Your worthless Riley! No one wanted you when you were a teenager, and no one wants you now!"_

_Another kick._

"_You're a _geek _- just like all those kids at school said you were! You're a loser, a freak!"_

_Riley yelled in pain as another blow came to his side. He squeezed his eyes tightly, trying to keep back the tears that were trying desperately to escape. _

"_You're wrong!" He yelled. "That was highschool! Everyone knows that highschool is as fake as anything! Nothing in highschool lasts, you're never what they sa-." _

_Another smack to his cheek quickly shut him up. _

"_Riley," Said Matt, straightening up and wiping some of the blood off his hand and onto his pant leg, "You're wrong. Sure, there are a lot of things about highschool that aren't real, and that never last. But this - what people _really _are inside, that... that stays forever. Inside you're just a loser Riley, and that's something you will never change."_

_Riley looked up at Matt, his eyes narrowed and glaring as hard has he could. Matt just smiled sympathetically, and crouched in front of the younger man. "Riley, if you weren't a loser - if you really were a good, normal, nice kind of guy, one that everyone would want to be around, then why are you still here? Why hasn't Ben and Abigail come to save you yet? I mean, goodness. They're treasure hunters!" Matt searched Riley's eyes, as though yearning for him to believe what he said. He brought his hand up to Riley's face, causing Riley to flinch. But instead of hitting him, Matt just lightly patted his cheek. "They're treasure hunters Riley. They go after the things they care about. The things they deem most worthy of their time and effort. I mean, my goodness. They wanted the Templar's Treasure, and they just went after it! They didn't ever give up, did they?" Matt directed his question straight at Riley, waiting for a response. When he didn't immediately get one, he asked again, this time a little more harshly. "__**Did**__ they_ _Riley?" Riley slowly shook his head. _

"_What is that?" Matt asked soothingly._

_The word was just barely more than a whisper, but it could still be heard._

"_No."_

"_But they seem to have given up on you. Or maybe they just didn't start in the first place. I would've thought, that a human life, what's more the life of a friend, would be more valuable than a thousand treasures. Wouldn't you agree Riley? Hmm?"_

_This time the answer came a little more quickly._

"_...Yes."_

"_But still you remain here, with me. And Brian. And David, and Charles. There are others, but you have yet to meet them. If you're good, I'll introduce you to them. Would you like that?"_

_Riley didn't answer this time, he just glared at his captor. But his glare was weak, and obviously forced. Matt could tell this, and he knew that progress was being made._

_End Flash Back_

Riley hugged his knees, staring at the cement floor with unseeing eyes. Somewhere in the back of his mind he thought how lucky he was, that no one had broken any of his arms or legs, or a rib - not even a finger.

Well, yet.

Somewhere inside him he knew that he shouldn't be listening to them - that he shouldn't be thinking about what they said, but when they talked about highschool - when they said how he had been a loser and a freak, he knew that they were right. He had always thought of himself as a geek in highschool, as someone who was too smart for his own good, someone who wore glasses and preferred staying home and working on computers or reading books rather than going to parties and getting drunk like every other idiot in the school did. He hadn't been themostpopular kid in school - okay, so he'd admit he was even picked on from time to time. But that didn't mean he was a loser, did it? Alright, so everyone in the whole school practically knew about the Poole freak - the one with shabby clothes, dorky glasses and a know it all, sarcastic attitude. But surely that didn't mean he was worse than anyone else, did it? It didn't mean he was a... a... a _freak. _

But that's what Matt said. That's what Brian had said. That's what the other two men, David and Charles, had said. It was like they were each a part of his most inner thoughts. But instead of being silent and prodding, they were loud, clear, and rigorous in their words and meanings.

And they _knew_ things. That was what freaked Riley out the most - what made him really think that they were telling the truth. They knew what highschool had been like for him; they knew all the different names he had been called, the subjects he had been good at, and the subjects he had been worse at. They even knew his family - his father and mother, his brother, his sister. They knew his family hadn't been the wealthiest of people, heck, Riley had been lucky enough to be able to _go_ to school. They knew what Riley's home life had even been like - something that scared Riley most of all.

And they used this to their advantage.

_They're right, _Thought Riley, running a shaky hand through his hair, trying to distract himself but not succeeding. _I am a freak - a loser. Just like everyone in highschool had said, and just like they're saying now. I'm _not _worth it. Why else would I still be here? Why else would Ben be at home, with Abigail, not even bothering about me?_

A smaller, more distant thought echoed in his mind as his eyes began to close, and his body began to fall asleep.

_How could they?_

_- - -_

So bit by bit, they're breaking our Riley. I know it may seem fast, but different reasons help explain why Riley's quickly broken; these will hopefully be made clear as the story progresses. The biggest reason is of course, because it's what I want for the story. : )

I really hope you guys liked this chapter, and continue to like the story. I think the part with Riley could be better though; I'm going to work on writing his scenes better in future chapters. I think it'll be easier, because the ball is finally rolling with good speed. : )

And lastly,

**Please review. **Reviewing lets me know that people are interested in the story, and want to continue reading it. It's hard to put effort into updating regularly when only two or three people are interested. So **review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Loss**

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, everything belongs to Disney.

A/N Thank you all for your reviews! They're greatly appreciated, and I love hearing from you and knowing that people are interested and want more. And thanks to LoremIpsum for correcting me on the spelling of Sadusky's name - thank you!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter - not a lot happens, but it was necessary for the plot. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4

- - -

The sun was hanging high in the spring morning sky, showing off the beauty of the lawn and trees that surrounded the secluded mansion. Birds were chirping, flying, and singing their songs, and the wildlife were beginning to wake up and tentatively make their way across the mansion's front lawn. If someone were to come upon the place at that moment, they would probably think the world couldn't be any better than right then. But for the people living in the mansion, the world couldn't be any worse.

It had been a week since Ben and Abigail had talked to agent Sadusky, had learned that perhaps there was more to Riley's odd absence that day then they had thought.

_Flash Back_

_Ben and Abigail had only to wait ten minutes, and by that time Agent Sadusky and two of his men were standing before them, all of them crammed together in Riley's small (and already crammed) small apartment. Ben had been getting more worried as the minutes passed, but he did his best to keep his emotions in check. Abigail however had no problem allowing herself to fidget and tap her foot impatiently as they waited, her finger wrapping around her long hair again and again, something Ben had come to learn as a clear sign of nervousness. _

_When Sadusky had arrived, Ben had been quick to jump on the reason why they were all there; bypassing any greetings or other formalities that normally would have taken place. _

"_Sadusky, where's Riley? Is he alright?"_

_Sadusky sighed and rubbed his hands against his temples, closing his eyes as he tried to think of the best way to put his thoughts into words. _

"_Mister Gates, when was the last time you saw Mister Poole?"_

_Ben took no time in answering._

"_Yesterday afternoon. He was over at our house, but left when Abigail and I had to leave for a dinner - I was speaking there."_

_Ben looked at Abby through the corner of his eye, wondering if she would say something. Thankfully, she remained silent. _

"_And that's the same for you, Misses Gates?"_

_Abigail nodded. "Yes."_

"_Alright." Sadusky flipped open a pad of paper, and quickly wrote down a few notes, before closing it and looking back up. He opened his mouth to speak, and Ben could tell from the set of his face that the news wasn't going to be good. _

"_Mister and Misses Gates, we recently had some reports come in, giving us reason to believe that Mister Poole may be involved with something."_

_Ben raised an eyebrow, and Abigail looked at the man with incredulity at the vague statement. The two remained silent though, waiting for the agent to go on. _

"_We had some reports saying that a man and a woman were seen coming into this building. They were alone when came in, but there were three of them that went out"_

_Ben opened his mouth to speak, but Sadusky quickly cut him off. "Now that in itself is nothing to be suspicious of, but we have some other concerns. Before we continue however, we wanted to make sure we talked to you. Do you two know of any friends, or close relations of Mister Poole? Any that he's close enough to enjoy a prank with now and then?"_

_The last sentence bothered Ben, but he made sure to answer the first. _

"_No, not that we know of. As far as we know, we're the only one's Riley really knows here. I'm... not sure about his family, or any friends he may have back home."_

_It was then that Ben realized just how little about Riley he knew. Well, he knew that Riley grew up in Wisconsin, and had some family there, but that was about all he knew. He had of course tried to talk about Riley's home life with him, but every time he had attempted it, Riley had always somehow diverted the conversation, and the would end up talking about something else. Usually history, or some long lost treasure that needed to be found. Ben knew then that he had failed Riley. If they really were friends, like Ben thought they were, surely he'd have pressed harder for Riley to open up - to talk about his past and where he came from, and where he wanted to go. _

_It was then that Ben realized Abigail and Sadusky were talking._

"_...older brother, and a younger sister."_

_Sadusky motioned to one of his men, and the man quickly opened up a notebook and began to write. _

"_Anything else?"_

"_No. That was about as far as we got. He did say that they were all still in Wisconsin."_

"_Do you know where we can contact them? What his parents names are, maybe?"_

_Abigail just shook her head, but Ben could tell her lack of information to give upset her. _

"_How about you Mister Gates? Do you know anything at all about his family?"_

_Ben racked his brain, trying to remember if there were any conversations the two had had, and where, if at all, the subject of Riley's family had come up. _

_Finally, "No. Riley's very... quiet about his home life. He never really seemed like he wanted to discuss them. But sir, why are you asking all this? Who were those two people that came here? Did they... did they do something to Riley?" Ben didn't dare say kidnap. The thought had gone through his head, yes, but it was a thought that he did not want to come true - he didn't want it to come true at all. _

_Sadusky let out a sigh, and he ran a hand over top of his head. _

"_Well, normally we wouldn't be too concerned. But Riley does have a_ lot _of money, and he is known for having helped find that treasure of yours, so we decided to look into it - just to be sure."_

_Ben didn't like where this was going - sentences that ended like that always meant something worse was to follow. _

"_So we checked the surveillance video in the hallways. Third floor, apartment 25 - that is Mister Poole's, correct?"_

_Ben swallowed, and nodded._

"_Well, a man and a woman fitting the descriptions of various witnesses are seen standing in front of that door. They were there for a total of one minute and thirty four seconds. We couldn't see what the man was doing, as the woman was blocking the camera, but we do know that after that minute thirty four, the door was opened and the two went in. Approximately one hour later, at 6:45pm, Mister Poole is seen entering his apartment. About ten minutes later, he and the man and woman left."_

_Ben realized that his throat was now dry, and he had to wait a moment before opening his mouth to speak. Looking at Abigail, he could see that the news that the agent had given was not sitting well with her. _

"_Sir-." Ben started, but Abigail suddenly cut him off, her voice loud and shrill_.

"_What are you saying?! Are you saying they took him?! Or did he leave with them?!! WELL?! Which was it?!!?"_

_Agent Sadusky coughed uncomfortably, before speaking again._

"_I'm afraid we couldn't really tell. It looked as though he were walking - they were not dragging him, or carrying him away. He was between the two of them, and the man had an arm around him, as though supporting him. But other than that, it looked as though he were walking on his own accord."_

_Ben and Abigail were silent. They didn't know what to make of this news. What did it mean? Did it mean Riley had some unknown friends, or old relations that they didn't know about? Why would he leave with them then, without telling Ben and Abby?_

_When no one immediately spoke, Sadusky continued._

"_We had to wait 24 hours before coming to you. We're sorry for the delay, but it's standard procedure. Now we don't want to jump the gun, but we do want to watch this case. Mister Poole may just have gone for a few days, and just didn't tell anyone. The reason we _are _concerned, is solely because of the circumstances in how he left. Have either of you talked to Mister Poole since last night?"_

_Ben shook his head. Abigail remained unmoving, a hand slowly making its way to her mouth, as thoughts of what could have happened began playing through her head._

"_Have you tried reaching him on his cell phone?"_

_Ben nodded at this._

"_Yes, numerous times - but he hasn't answered for any of them."_

_Sadusky sighed once more, then finally closed his notebook and put it in his pocket._

"_Thank you for your help Mister and Misses Gates; we'll contact you if there are any developments. And of course, if you would be so kind as to contact us if you see or talk to Mister Poole?"_

_Ben nodded again. "Yes, of course."_

"_Alright. We'll be seeing you then. Mister Gates, Misses Gates."_

_- - -_

Seven days. Seven days of waiting, hoping that news would come that Riley was back - that he would call them. Seven days of constant disappointment. Ben and Abigail concern had grown into complete panic. Ever since meeting Riley, neither had ever gone so long without knowing where he was, or talking to him. They now knew that something was wrong, and Agent Sadusky's simple 'lookout' for Riley, had turned into a full blown missing persons case.

Ben didn't know what to do. Should he just wait, and sit back, while Sadusky and his men worked on searching for Riley? Or should he go and search for his young best friend himself? He was a treasure hunter, for goodness sake - surely this was a treasure that undoubtedly needed to be found. When he had approached Abigail about it however, she had been quick to discourage him from such and endeavour.

"No, Ben."

"But Abigail, it's _Riley._"

"I know it's Riley, but we have to let Agent Sadusky do his job - they're the FBI Ben, if anyone can find him, they can. We'd just be a nuisance, and probably unsuccessful in the end. Besides - maybe Riley _did _just go back to Wisconsin, and he's right now sitting at home, sitting on a couch with his legs crossed, and his laptop on his lap. It was the only thing missing, you know."

Ben frowned, and sat down on his chair, putting his hands in his face.

"I just don't get it, Abigail. Why wouldn't he tell me if he was going somewhere? I mean, geez - the kid practically tells the world when he has to go to the bathroom - I THINK he'd tell us if he was going back home."

Abigail sighed, running a hand through her hair. She didn't want to bring this up, but she didn't want to admit that Riley could be anywhere _but _at home, and she refused to allow her thoughts to roam into painful territory.

"Ben... he _was_ upset when he left - and no matter how much you deny it, it's the truth. You weren't exactly the kindest you've been to him that night, and he might have just seen his friends or relatives, and decided he needed a break."

Ben ran a hand over his face, then shook his head.

_Maybe Abby's right. _He thought, staring intently at the ancient fire place that adorned the corner wall. _I guess I could have been better to Riley that night - I shouldn't have been such a jerk. So if some old friends _did _come over to his place... I guess it's not that impossible that he'd go with them. _Ben sighed, unable to help feeling a bit better at the thought that Riley could really be safe and at home. _But, _his mind added, _he just didn't seem that angry. _

- - -

"What good are you Riley?! What good are you?!"

Riley glared at his captor, and struggled to get back onto his feet. Without even thinking, he yelled,

"Don't pull this crap with me! DON'T pull this crap with me! Why am I even here!? What do you want with me?!!"

Matt pushed Riley back to the ground, and Riley, weak from the week of captivity with little food and water, wasn't able to put up much of a fight. He fell onto his back, but managed to keep his head rigid - keeping it from snapping back onto the concrete floor.

Matt walked over to Riley, and put his foot on his chest. Riley brought his hands up in front of his face defensively, ready to receive a blow. Matt however just looked down at him, shaking his head.

"Who do you think you are, Riley?"

Riley's fingers clenched into his palms, and his body stiffened as his heart beat loudly in his chest.

"Well?"

Riley didn't say anything, and opted instead to just glare the best he could at the one leaning over him.

"Do you think you're a treasure hunter? Hmm?"

Riley continued to remain silent, and as a result, the foot on his chest began to push down slightly.

"Do you really think you're some great hero, who helped find one of the greatest lost treasures in the world? Do you?"

The pressure increased, and Riley couldn't help but let out a gasp of pain as the foot began to press on his lungs.

"Well you're not Riley. You're not a_ real_ treasure hunter- you're not some '_hero_'. You're nothing. You hear me? You're a nobody - just some homeless, lonely _child _that happened to get someone's useless pity."

Riley heaved in and out, looking through the one eye that was still open - the other one was nearly closed shut, from a hit he had received a few days ago.

"You're wrong." he managed to get out, his voice low and scratchy from yelling.

Matt raised an eyebrow, a small grin crossing his face.

"Oh am I?"

Riley tried to move himself, but as soon as he did, Matt's foot just moved from his chest to his throat, and Riley immediately went limp. Matt chuckled.

"Oh Riley, Riley... I wish it weren't true, but it is. You're _not _a real treasure hunter, and you're not a real friend. You're not even a real son and brother - am I right? Huh?"

Riley's glare returned in full force, and he began to struggle madly, trying to get out of the hold his captor had on him - to be able to fight back. All that it did for him though was get the pressure on his throat increased, to the point where he could barely breath. At this point his body reacted on its own, and his chest began to jerk, as he tried to get his air back. His hands flew up and grabbed Matt's leg, trying to get it off of him.

"Oh no you don't..."

Matt took his foot off Riley's throat, and Riley gasped loudly as his airways opened back up and he could breath again. His relief was short lived however, as that same foot kicked Riley in the side - hard. Riley doubled over in pain, his arms wrapping protectively around his side. He was barely aware of his captor crouching down beside him. Riley looked up at him, eyes blazing, then started to cough.

Matt tilted his head to the side.

"You shouldn't have done that Riley. It's you're fault I had to put my foot on your throat like that, and it's your fault I was forced to kick you. If you weren't so defiant against me and everyone else, we wouldn't be here!"

Riley let out another cough, then said,

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that we didn't mean for you to still be here, in this cell - this holding place. We want only what's best for you Riley, and you keep inhibiting us from being able to do that! You can't be so defiant and unruly Riley. You need to accept the truth."

Riley's glare was now almost gone, leaving his eyes empty and his face nearly broken, as he struggled to stay awake and refute what his captor was saying. Or at least, to say anything at all.

Matt stared at Riley for a moment longer, then patted his cheek.

"It's you're fault Riley. It's _you're _fault. If you hadn't done what you did back in Wisconsin, and if you hadn't done all those things to your so called friends here, then maybe you wouldn't be in this mess. Do you understand? All these problems - everything that went wrong back home and here - it's all _your _fault."

Matt left him then; leaving him alone by himself, with only his own thoughts for company.

Riley curled into himself, his wrists hurting and bleeding from having remained bound for over two weeks now. He stared at the wall blankly, trying to get his thoughts in order - trying to make sense of all the things that were bombarding his mind right then.

_He's right, I'm not a real treasure hunter - Ben was the treasure hunter, I was just the computer geek - the only one lame enough to actually have skills in hacking and working with computers. I'm not like Ben or Abb...Abigail at all. I'm not one of them. I'm just... I'm just..._

Riley's eyes squeezed shut as he tried to stop the coming tears that were already welling up behind his eyes.

_I don't know who I am anymore._

Riley didn't know when he fell asleep. The only thing he knew was that he was suddenly, and forcefully, being jarred awake by a small kick to his stomach.

Riley groaned, but was forced to stop as a coughing fit began to rack his body. When the coughing subsided, he managed to look up to see who it was, and with no surprise, saw that it was Matt.

Except now, he had a plate with him.

A plate of food.

A plate of hot, steaming, fabulous smelling food.

Riley immediately sat up, and he automatically reached out his hands, trying to grab the plate of mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and chicken that was being held in front of him. But before he managed to reach it, it was quickly pulled away.

"Uh uh Riley. You have to earn this food. I know how much you don't like the simple bread and water we've been giving you, so I thought I'd give you a nice, home cooked meal for a change. But you have to deserve it, Riley."

Riley tried one last time to glare whole heartedly at his captor, but just couldn't hold it up when real food was being put right in front of his face. Instead he just turned his head away from his captor, but his eyes remained fixated on the food, even though he tried to ignore that too.

"See? I told Chelsea you'd like it. Here she thought it might not be good enough. But I told her that even though you definitely aren't good enough for the food, we had to show mercy."

Matt placed the plate of food away from Riley, eying the younger man to make sure he didn't jump at it. When he was satisfied that Riley would remain where he was, he started to speak.

"If you want this food Riley, then you have to repeat after me. Say, 'My friends aren't my friends.'"

Riley's eyebrows formed into a confused frown. When he didn't say anything, his captor just shook his head and grabbed the plate of food, standing up and acting as though he were making for the door.

"Fine, if you really don't want this food..."

Before Riley could stop himself, he yelled out,

"WAIT!"

His captor smiled, then turned back. Placing the food by the door, he said again,

"Then say it."

Riley gulped, then took a deep breath.

"My... my friends aren't my friends."

Matt smiled softly. "They are backstabbing and ruthless, and they don't care about me, or what happens to me one bit."

"They are backstabbing and..." Riley stopped for a moment, but one look and smell at the steaming plate of food made him continue. "..and r-ruthless, and they d-don't care about me, or... or what happens to me, one bit."

This went on for another several minutes; Matt would have Riley repeat whatever he said, making him denounce his friends and everything about his former life.

When the ordeal was finally over, Matt congratulated Riley, saying that he was finally understanding the truth. And with that, he pushed the plate of now lukewarm food over to his captive, then finally left the room.

Riley ate faster than he had ever eaten before. He was surprised to find that the food was actually very good, and didn't seem to be poisoned in the least - as he had been thinking before.

When he was finished, he sighed and wiped his mouth, his stomach full for the first time since he had come here. He couldn't help but feel a deep sense of gratitude towards his captor, for feeding him such a meal as he had - such a meal that he didn't think he'd ever get again.

Riley thought about what he had said, and everything he had declared about his friends and family. He didn't know how his captor knew all the things he knew about his life, but now, Riley just couldn't care. He just... accepted.

He felt guilty for saying what he had said, but as he made his way over to his corner, he couldn't help but think that maybe - just maybe - what he had said was true.

- - -

Ah, so poor Riley is slowly but surely changing from the Riley we all know and love, into someone quite different. But more on that in future chapters : )

Alright, so basically this chapter was pretty much like the last chapter (sorry for that). But I promise, that now since the necessary information has been written, progress in the plot can actually be made (believe it or not, I'm not just here to torture Riley and make a jerk out of Ben).

Please **review!** Reviewing tells me that people are indeed actually reading this story, and so if you want more chapters, please tell me (it's not easy to write and update when only a couple people are reading it).

So yeah, **review, review, review**!

FM


	5. Chapter 5

Loss

A/N

I'm really sorry for the long and terrible wait for this update. This was a really hard chapter to write, as it's more of an information chapter (much needed information though), and I was trying to get it right, and to give reasons for certain things, rather than just say "and he just suddenly changed". I don't really think I accomplished that though, so please just bear with me for this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, it all belongs to Disney.

Chapter 5

FantasysMagic

- - -

Riley had been reciting phrases and quotations back to Matthew and Brians for what seemed like hours now. He had been vaguely aware of what they were telling him to say, but he no longer cared if he said it or not. The words though were impressed upon his mind, digging their way into the back of his thoughts, swimming and floating through the sea that was his mind, and slowly poisoning everything in and around it. Riley didn't stop it though. He no longer tried to stop listening to the ones who held him captive; he knew that ignoring them would get him nowhere. It would only get him pain. And while Riley wasn't a wimp by any means, and could usually take whatever was dished to him - being tortured, starved, and kept without sleep for days on end were finally taking its full toll on him.

It had been two months since he had been knocked unconscious in his apartment, and had been taken to this cold basement in who-knows-where. Two months since he had touched a computer, or any other electronic device, and two months since he had seen any person other than the seven who would visit him – some frequently, others only occasionally. The ones who visited him nearly every day were Matthew and Brians. Riley still hadn't figured out Brians first name, but any curiosity that he'd once had, had now been pushed to back of his mind.

Then there was Chelsea. She was one of only two women who lived at the place, and was the only one who saw him the most out of the two. The other woman was Olivia. She was in amongst the same ages of everyone else, which ranged from 20 to 30. Brians was the exception, marking his age at 45 years. Then there was another man, Devon, who was 30 years old. Matt followed him at 28, then Kyle who was 26; Olivia was the same age at Riley, standing at 24. Chelsea was a year younger than them at 23. The last was the youngest man, Brendan, who was 21. Riley had met each and every one of them at one point, but it was rare that he saw much of any, except for the first two. The first two, Matt and Brians, had seemed to make it their business to make Riley's life as hard as they could – even if that included regular beatings and verbal and mental attacks each and every day.

Finally, Matt and Brians got up from the chairs they had been sitting in, and each with a smile to Riley, left the room, Matt locking the door behind him.

Riley sighed in exhaustion, and stood to his feet, stretching his arms in the air. His hands and legs had had their bonds cut free four days ago, something Riley couldn't help but be grateful for, as the bonds had been rubbing the skin beneath them to the point where they were raw, and had been painful to even move. Matt had told Riley that he had cut them because he trusted him – that he knew the bonds hurt, and that he felt Riley had been showing 'good progress' in the last couple days, and so while no one else thought so, Matt felt Riley's behaviour needed to be rewarded. He had promised Riley that as long as he didn't try to leave, he would remain free and never have to have bonds again. And Riley had to admit, he didn't think he wanted to leave. He had been listening to what Brians, Matt, and the others had been telling him, despite his earlier protests and promises to himself to never even give a second thought to what they said. But now, more than just a second thought had been given to such things. Things such as how the government was wrecking so many people's lives, about how the rich people of the world were causing the deaths of millions, and how even those who you thought were your closest friends had real intentions that you never would have dreamed of – intentions for harm, and all things the farthest away from that of good.

There were exceptions, though. Some rich people, they said, were actually good – they had pure hearts, hearts that kept them free from the contamination of the world. Matt had said that Riley was one of those 'Pure Hearts', and that that was one of the reasons he had been brought here, so that he would remain a true pure heart forever, and be able to help those who needed his help; which, according to Matt and Brians, was a lot of people.

The other hearts of the rich people however, were what Matt and Brians called "Black Hearts". They held no compassion or purity whatsoever, and those that had them needed to be taught lessons from the Pure Hearts. One prime example that Matt and Brians used often was that of Benjamin Franklin Gates. When Riley at first watched them try to tell him that Ben was a 'Black Heart', he had been vehemently against it. Ben was his best friend, his friend that he had gone on adventures and treasure hunts with; the one who had stuck by him for so long when there were so many others that hadn't. He saw Ben all the time, and they would talk about things from as far as government and politics and the end of the world, to how the local diner didn't seem to be able to put enough spices on their fries. He refused at first to believe a single word of what they said. But after a while, after hearing their arguments for how Ben was really a Black Heart and just a plain bad person, Riley was having an extremely hard time trying to back up his friend, to try and keep his name clear from all the things that the others were trying to smear on it.

What was the worst though, was when Riley had to say it himself that Ben and Abigail were Black Hearts. He had been forced to say a few times before that Ben and Abigail weren't his friends, and he had felt guilty when he had said that, as though he had betrayed them somehow, but never before had he felt so guilty about something than that of which he was saying now. Perhaps it was because he had come to believe what they said about Black Hearts and Pure Hearts, and governments and the world, and having to put Ben in the category of the bad was just too hard. But what was even worse was when Riley found himself beginning to agree with the things he was saying. When he would denounce his friends, when he would say with his own mouth that they were Black Hearts, and cruel, horrible people, it seemed as though he didn't know who he was anymore. He felt so guilty for everything; he felt like his whole being in this situation was his fault; if he hadn't been so upset with Ben for not reading his book, if he hadn't been around them so much, if he hadn't... if he'd just...

Riley didn't know what he felt guilty for anymore. Sometimes he thought it was because of how he acted, or because he had denounced his friends when he really should have just not said anything, but now he really didn't know. He just felt burdened, like the weight of the world had been suddenly dropped onto his back, and he didn't know how or why it had happened, or how to get it off. But he knew he was guilty for something – of that he was sure. He just didn't know what.

That was when Matt acted. He knew what Riley was feeling, he had felt it himself, once. So one night, he went down to Riley, and sat cross legged on the floor in front of him. Riley was far past the point of even trying to glare, so he had just stared at Matt, waiting for whatever it was that he was going to do to be over. But instead of being beaten, or being told he was worthless, he was told something else. Something he had been wanting so desperately to know.

"Riley, the reason you feel guilty is because of the way you once lived."

Riley stared at him for a moment, his deeply bruised and battered face frowning at him in uncertainty. A cough rattled through his chest as he said,

"What?"

"You were living under an ideology which was completely fake – it was one huge lie; the worst lie that the whole world bought. All your actions you ever did – with Benjamin Gates, with your work, with your... family."

Riley flinched.  
"...well, now that you know the truth, you're mind is realizing how horrifically wrong you were to have done all those things, and to have lived under such a society, and so it knows it was wrong. _You _know you were wrong. And you feel guilty for it, as you should."

Riley couldn't help but feel crest fallen. He had known he was guilty for something, but for this? This was something as such a magnitude of which he couldn't even begin to grasp. His entire life he had been living under a lie, under a structure and ideology that was as wrong as anything he could have ever imagined. Part of Riley felt like this was stupid; like this was something so beyond ridiculous, that he couldn't even begin to understand it. But another part, a stronger, overriding part, felt...guilty. And this was the only part that Riley could feel at the moment. The guilt that he had been feeling for so long now finally had a reason – it was the way he had been living. It was the government under which he willingly lived, under which he had always thought to be the best form of government that there was. Democracy was good, right? The freedom to voice your thoughts, your opinions, and even to be able to take action against your government, if you thought it was doing you or your country wrong – to be able to do all that, and not have the threat of being killed or tortured for it; that was democracy, right? That was what living in a free country was about.

Or was it?

It was wrong. It was all wrong.

Riley looked up at Matt, the uncertainty dissolving from his face as each thought passed through his mind.

All the ideals, all the things he had ever believed... it was wrong. These people were telling the truth. Matt, Brians, Chelsea, Olivia, Brendan... they were right. What they had told him was _true_. The ideals he had been living under _were _wrong. And all this about pure hearts, black hearts, and the rich people of society – they were true. They were all true.

Riley looked up at Matt, and for a moment the two just stared at each other. Then finally Riley said,

"What should I do?"

- - -

Two months had passed since Ben and Abigail Gates had seen the young man named Riley Poole. Two months since they had spoken to him. Two months since he had been kidnapped.

For that was the conclusion that the FBI had now come to since Riley's disappearance. At first it had been a simple missing persons case (as though that could ever be simple), but since then it had been upgraded to a kidnapping. They figured that the reason Riley had been kidnapped was for the obvious one – because he was a multi-millionaire. He was also living in a small, low-security apartment; so anyone who really wanted to try and kidnap him wouldn't have a lot of problems doing it. It was an open and shut case (well, except that they hadn't found him yet). The only problem with this, was that a ransom note had yet to surface. By now, the FBI, or one of Riley's friends (presumably Ben and Abigail), would have at least received _something _in the mail - whether it was a hand written note, a type written letter, or even a video tape – the kidnappers would have usually done _something _by now to indicate what they wanted. But no one had received anything. Not a piece of clothing, not even something Riley carried on him – not even a shoe – to at least _show_ that they had Riley with them. So the FBI were confused, as well as Ben and Abigail. But that didn't mean that something wouldn't come. All they had to do was be patient. At least, that's what Agent Sadusky and the FBI team told Ben and Abigail, and anyone else who had taken an interest in the story.

Ben and Abigail had the hardest time of anyone when it came to accepting that they could do nothing, that they had to wait for the kidnappers to make the first move. But what could they do?

The truth was that they could do nothing for now. They had to wait.

- - -

Extremely short, extremely boring, and next to no dialogue. All the things I hate in a chapter. But this was very necessary, as it shows somewhat Riley's conversion from his old ways of thinking to his new ways of thinking (courtesy of Matt and the gang).

So I guess you could say it's just a "filler" (if that's the right term). A much needed filler.

I won't say when the next chapter will be up, because it's never when I say it will be. Just let it be known that the one of the few big hurdles for this story has finally been written, and the next chapter will be MUCH easier to write. We're also getting much close to the part that was my inspiration to write this in the first place : ) Much fun!

Again, sorry for the extremely slow update, and the poor quality of the chapter.

Next chapter won't be a thing like this – I promise!

**Review**please, it lets me know how many people are interested, and it helps me to keep motivated for updating.

Thanks,

FM


	6. Chapter 6

Loss

FantasysMagic

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, Disney does.

Chapter 6

- - -

It had taken Ben an hour to get to the bank. An hour drive that usually only took about twenty minutes on a good day. Today however, was not a good day.

In fact, none of his days hadn't been good for nearly three months now. So now whenever something happened, even if it was just the smallest of small setbacks, his whole day was completely ruined. Either he ended up blowing up at Abby or a colleague, or Abby ended up blowing up at him, and they would be angry for the rest of the day. Ben wished it would stop. He wished that he could just go through a single day without getting mad, or letting some small problem anger or frustrate him to no end. But the truth was, with Riley gone, he didn't know how life could ever be the same again. How could he just go about his daily business, as though Riley had never been a part of his life? As though he were never there to begin with? Riley was...he was...

Ben shook his head, and turned his attention back to the road before him. He had been stuck in traffic for an hour now, and in hindsight he realized that perhaps he should have gone earlier in the day, rather than at 4:30 in the afternoon. But Abigail insisted that they needed to cash checks that they had received, or else those who wrote them would start to complain. Ben could honestly care less, but knowing that if he didn't get out of the house and let off a little steam, he would come to regret it. So he listened to Abigail, and here he was – stuck. In the middle of the road, in the wrong lane, with a slew of vehicles on all sides of him, and the bank only one block away.

Finally the light turned green, and Ben made a dash for the lane to his right, and by sheer luck he managed to catch an open spot in between two cars, but not without causing the guy behind him to honk his horn in angry protest.

"Yeah, yeah – you'll get over it." Ben muttered as he swerved into the banks parking lot. Thinking he was home free, Ben couldn't help but grin in triumph. Lo and behold however, it turned out that 4:30 was a popular time for people who wanted to cash their pay day checks; especially on a Friday. So when Ben drove into the parking lot, there was practically no parking space available. Ben was forced to drive in circles a few times, until he finally spotted a small space in between two large trucks. With no other choice, Ben started to drive in.

Somehow he managed to safely get his car parked, but with practically no room to spare. He had to squeeze himself out of the doorway, and at the same time not touch the other vehicle beside him. Finally he got out into the open, and without a second glance he headed into the building. He was rushed to get his banking done and get home in time to grade some papers before supper time. He was so rushed, that he didn't notice the black van driving slowly into the parking lot.

- - -

It was Riley's first big time robbery. In the last few weeks, Matt had seen fit to take Riley with him - and others of his choice - out for some small time thievery in and around the city. It was just small stuff – breaking into houses mostly, and grabbing a few, inconspicuous items that were valuable, but most likely wouldn't be missed.

Riley had felt a little uneasy about the thefts at first, but knowing that doing it would help to get him accepted by the others, and keep him from going back into the basement, he couldn't help but jump at the chance to prove himself. A part of him knew that what he was doing was wrong; that stealing these people's personal items was going against everything he had ever been taught as a child. But then again, he had a pretty crappy childhood, so who's to say what he had been taught was really wrong, or really right? There were so many things that he had once believed that he now knew to be wrong, so it seemed perfectly logical that not stealing from someone could be one of them. Besides, as Matt had said, the people they were stealing from were not the innocents they played themselves out to be. They were all Black Hearts, and so thus deserved to be stolen from. In fact, it was right of them (Matt and the others) to do so.

What was more, was that after the first few break ins, Riley found that he was actually _enjoying_ it. He enjoyed the thrill of excitement that he got when they first entered a house, everyone quiet at first to determine if there were any unwanted residents (such as a dog or cat) that would give them away or cause problems for them at any point in time. When they were given the clear, they would then proceed to search all the spots in the house where most people kept their most prized, possessions. They then determined which ones could be taken without causing much of a commotion when the family came home, and which ones could be passed off as simply having been misplaced. Riley had started liking their little "excursions", as Matt called it, and he often looked forward to when their next "job" would be. But robbing a bank was different. It wasn't like robbing a house when the owners weren't home. There was no time to make a plan at a moments notice, and no time to pick and choose which objects to steal. You had to be fast, you had to be able to think and plan in a difficult and high tense situation, and you needed to be able to handle a large group of distressed and upset people. But it was a _high_ pay out, if everything went according to plan, that is.

Riley had been nervous to take on this kind of job, and didn't know if he was ready yet for something as high scale as this. But Matt and the others assured him that he wouldn't be doing any of the hard stuff, such as obtaining the actual money from the bank tellers, or negotiating with anyone. All he would have to do was hold a gun, and watch over a certain area of the building, making sure no one tried to phone, text, or most of all, escape. A small part of Riley, the same, small part that had at first felt uneasy about the house thefts, pushed and shoved him in the back of his mind, screaming at him that what he was doing was wrong, that there was no way that he could point a gun at someone and threaten them with their life. But like before, Riley just pushed the voice away, and turned his attention back to Matt and the others.

"Alright everyone. Let's go over the plan one more time, for caution's sake." Matt was turned around in the front passenger's seat, looking back at the rest of the group that had compiled into the van. Brians was driving around to the back of the bank, where he would remained parked in the vehicle until the group had to make their getaway. Almost everyone had come out for the job, only Devon remained behind at the house, to make sure nobody came by that they didn't want there, and also to take the stash of recently collected items, should something go wrong with the operation that was going over today. The others however, Olivia, Kyle, Chelsea, Brendan, and now Riley himself, were ready and waiting to do the job at hand.

Riley felt his stomach clench and unclench, as nervousness coursed through his entire body. He listened attentively to Matt , as he explained the plan once more.

"Olivia, you'll be guarding area 43." Matt lifted up a sketch of the interior of the building, and pointed to an area marked '43'. "Brendan, you'll be guarding area 44." Matt again pointed to a location on the sketch, and Brendan nodded as well. "Kyle, you'll be at the main entrance, area 45. And Chelsea, you'll be with me and Riley, over at area 46." Chelsea grinned and nodded, flashing a smile over to Riley, who sat across from her in the bucket seat. "And Riley, you'll be hardwiring the money from the machines, and transferring it to the bank account." Riley nodded like the rest had, and Matt gave him a reassuring grin. "Don't worry kid, you'll do great. Remember, we appreciate the skills you have with computers, and that's why we're using them."

Riley nodded again, this time with more confidence. He and Matt had had many discussions in the past months regarding Riley's phenomenal computer capabilities, and how now they would actually be appreciated, and put to good use, rather than used for menial tasks such as breaking into someone's ex's house. Riley had never felt his skills were that greatly unappreciated before when he was with Benjamin and Abigail Gates, but now when he thought back on it, he realized that they _had_ been menial tasks, and that his old friends hadn't appreciated just how extraordinary his skills really were. It wasn't like he was oblivious to how the Black Hearts had treated him over the years, he had always known it when Ben or Abigail had pushed him aside, or ignored his advice or the things he said, or just plain _looked over_ him, as though he were just the guy that they brought along with them when they needed technology related help, and not their good, if not one of their best, friends.

But Riley was through with that now. He had learned what Ben and Abigail were, and he had come to the realization that the friendship he'd thought he'd had with these people, really wasn't a friendship at all.

But enough of that. Riley shook his head, getting rid of all thoughts of Ben and Abigail. He had a job to do here, something he believed in, and something he was starting to believe that he would die for. He was a Pure Heart, and as such, he needed to save any and all other Pure Hearts as well, before they became contaminated by the Black Hearts. And if that meant robbing a bank to do it, then he would do it.

"Alright guys, this is it." Said Matt. "Masks on."

The group all brought out their black ski masks, and they all pulled it over their heads, leaving the only their eyes visible. They then pulled out identical black sunglasses, and put them over their eyes. Riley looked down at the rest of his body, making sure that the machines needed for the wire transfer were safely placed in his black pants, and that his black jacket effectively covered the gun that lay hidden at his waist. He had been given guns before when they went out "on the town", but this was the first time that he could actually possibly end up using it, and while the thought frightened him, he didn't want to let Matt and the others down. So looking back up, he nodded to Matt, indicating that he was ready to go. Matt nodded back, and gave everyone the thumbs up as Brendan slid open the van door.

"Alright guys, let's do this thing."

- - -

Ben sighed impatiently as he stood behind an old woman in the teller line. The bank was small, and so the most that they had were the tellers and banking machines, and at 4:30 in the afternoon, neither of them were exactly "free". He had considered just trashing the whole idea, and heading back home, but knowing how dense the traffic was right now, and the fact that Abigail would have his hide if he came back home with the cheques still in hand, he decided to stick it out until he got his banking finished and over with, once and for all. It was when he had just started to yawn once more, when the shouting and screaming began.

"EVERYBODY DOWN!!"

Women immediately started screaming, and a loud gunshot went off in the air. Ben's head snapped around as almost everyone beside him started moving at once. Six figures dressed in black had entered the building, nearly all of them brandishing a weapon in their hands. The one that had shouted was obviously the leader, and he was shouting to everyone once more as the rest of the group scattered across the building.

"I SAID EVERYONE DOWN!!! Get down now unless you want to see some blood!!"

Immediately everyone got to the floor, some with their hands over their heads, and other with their hands in their pockets, obviously reaching for their cell phones. Immediately four of the people in the group started pointing their guns at the individuals, forcing them to take their hands out of their pockets, along with their cell phones.

"That's right everyone, cell's out, and on the floor. I don't want any funny business. If I so much as SEE one of your fingers move, then don't be expecting to move that finger any more. In fact, you can pretty much count the rest of your body to be immobile, too. So just play nice, and we'll all get along together fine, okay?"

Riley took a breath, then headed over towards one of the bank machines, where a bunch of people were congregated around. Chelsea followed him, making sure that the group of people saw her gun that she held in her hand. She motioned for them to move into the corner, and they hurriedly obeyed. Riley quickly got to work, taking out a small machine from his pocket, along with a group of wires. He moved over to the closest banking machine, and swiftly began the process of hooking up the wires, and transferring all the money from the bank into the account that had been specially set up just for this job. He was nervous though, and his hands began to shake as he started to type in code words and passwords that would allow him to hack his way into the banks system's mainframe. For a few minutes, everything seemed to be going right according to plan. Riley could hear a few sobs echo throughout the building, but he ignored them and pressed on. But when a movement was caught in the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but instinctively look up, if not just for a brief moment. When he did look up, his breath abruptly caught in his throat, and his fingers and entire body froze where they were.

_Ben. _

- - -

Ben could feel his heart thumping in his chest as two of the group's members started walking over to where he was sitting. At first he had thought they had figured out who he was, and were now coming over to deal with him specifically. But then he passed by him, and the fear that had overwhelmed him was now abated, for the time being. He watched carefully as the two walked over to one of the bank machines, which was less than five feet away from where he was sitting. Then suddenly, everything clicked, and Ben realized exactly what the group of bank robbers were doing. They were transferring the money from the bank into a separate account, which was more likely than not set up in a way that would be completely under the radar, so that no authorities would even begin to think that anything was wrong. Ben watched as the man (his companion obviously a woman) began typing at breakneck speed, his fingers flying over the keyboard as though death were on the line. In, which a way, it was. As Ben watched, his thoughts suddenly went back to all the times Riley had watched himself type on his laptop or his home computer, and how he almost always said something degrading about it, such as how slow he was, or how he wasn't typing in the "proper" way. Usually Ben didn't mind Riley's teasing, but the last day that he had seen him, the day Riley had been kidnapped and never heard nor seen from again, Ben had been in a weird mood. His temper for Riley's antics was uncommonly short that day, and having had that disagreement with his father when he and Riley had come home had only made it worse. So when Riley had started berating him about his typing skills, he couldn't help but snap at him. He had felt bad for it afterwards, but then it just seemed that everything Riley did was grating on his last nerve, so he never bothered to apologise. Then Riley had been kidnapped, and everything had changed. He regretted his outburst at Riley every day , and he wished that he could go back in time to change things. But he couldn't, so all he could do was wait. Wait for the likely news that Riley's body had been found in some lake, deformed beyond recognition. For nothing could be as bad as that, could it?

Ben moved, adjusting his position against the counter so that he could at least be somewhat comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one can be when surrounded by a group of armed robbers. The movement must have caught the man who was doing the transfer's eye, as he turned his head and glanced over at Ben. Ben gave him his most hardened, angered glare that he could send, and hoped that the man knew how much he was hating him right now. Ben was expecting the robber to just turn back and continue doing what he was doing, but instead, he did something Ben did not expect – he froze. Ben wasn't sure what was going on, but he continued to stare back at him, refusing to turn away. After a moment, the man turned his attention back to the bank machine, his movements tense and quick. Soon the sound of typing started up once again, and the odd, but edged moment passed. Ben continued to watch the man, intrigued as to why the man had stared at him like he had. After another moment, a beeping sound was heard, causing Ben to jump. He looked up at the woman, who had been surveying the room, but was now pressing a button on a pager that hung from her waist.

"Come on Ri, we gotta get going."

Ben's entire body froze, and every thought he had been thinking was now gone from his head in a flash. Ri? But that was...

Ben's eyes snapped to the man, who was now nodding tensely in reply. Ben looked from the man's face, to his fingers, which were, if possible, soaring even fast across the keyboard in a rush to finish. Ben's eyes continued to look back and forth between his face and his hands, but they suddenly stopped when he heard the man speak.  
"Ri?" The woman said again.

"Yeah, yeah, almost finished..."

That voice. Ben knew that voice. He had known that voice for years. He had spent time trapped in a cave both beneath a church and Mount Rushmore with that voice. Heck, he had spent nights with that voice. But it couldn't be... could it? No, surely "Ri" meant something else, and he obviously must have just misheard the voice.

The sound of police sirens could be heard faintly in the background, and with every passing moment they could be heard coming closer. The woman glanced over to one of the other robbers, then back to the man beside her.

"Riley! Come on!"

Any doubts about the name "Ri" were crushed as Ben heard the man's full name spoken out loud.

"Nearly there... got it!"

The man's voice was victorious as he yanked the cords from the bank machine, and pressed just a few more buttons, before wrapping up the cords and shoving the small computer into his pants pocket. The woman grabbed the man's hand, and the two ran across the building and into the back, the rest of their team following quickly behind.

Ben couldn't believe what had just happened. He stared at the empty space of the hallway, where the man named Riley had just left with the other robbers just moments before. Thoughts rampaged against Ben's mind, all clamouring for a spot to be heard from, but Ben couldn't think on any of them. He was too shocked to think, too shocked to wonder who that person had been, or if he had been anyone.

Tires were heard screeching against the ground, and seconds later a group of police officers barged into the building, their guns raised and ready to attack, but were lowered once a scan had been done of the area, and no immediate threat could be spotted. All the people who had been in the bank were quick to rise to their feet and exit the building, as per the officer's commands. Ben walked out as well, but it was in a stunned silence that he did so. He was vaguely aware of someone speaking to him, and it wasn't until the voice was raised did his attention finally turn fully back to what was happening. The person speaking to him was a police officer, asking if he was alright. Ben responded that he was, and the officer proceeded to ask him questions pertaining to the hold up. Ben answered the questions best he could, but he didn't add what happened at the end, who he had thought he'd recognized. He wasn't even entirely sure himself, so why bother concerning someone else about it? Besides, Ben thought as the police officer left, leaving Ben to head back to his vehicle, Riley had been gone for nearly three months now; He was bound to start imagining things, bound to start thinking that every person who was named Riley could be his Riley. That sometimes happened during the grieving process, didn't it?

Ben started up his car, and slowly edged his way out of the parking lot, and back onto the road, his hands numb from what he had just experienced. And he hadn't even cashed the cheques.

What was he going to tell Abigail?

- - -

Riley's legs and arms were shaking with adrenaline as he sat in the van, waiting to get dropped off at the house. He couldn't believe it – he had done it! He had successfully, completely, brilliantly done it. He had pulled off the transfer, and without a hitch! Well, almost without a hitch.

"Riley, that was brilliant!" Exclaimed Chelsea as she leaned over and gave Riley a hug. Riley felt his face grow hot, and he tentatively hugged the woman back.

"Er, thanks Chelsea."

Chelsea leaned back and grinned.

"Call me Chels, Ri, all my good friends do."

All Riley could manage to do was nod and give a small smile.

"Chels is right guys," Said Matt, pride evident in his voice. "Riley did an amazing job today. I've had men do transfers before, but I have never seen someone do it that fast – that was simply amazing. When we get back tonight, I'll be buying the drinks, and there will be plenty of them!"

A cheer went up from the group, but Riley remained silent. His thoughts had turned back to who he had seen in the bank – Ben... no, Benjamin, Gates. The two had locked eyes for a moment, and it had shaken Riley badly. He didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to do. He had felt both relief and distress at seeing him, both happiness and anger. But how could he feel all of those at once? He looked up at Matt, and decided he would talk with him when they got back home. Suddenly, a warm hand was placed on his knee, and it gave him a small squeeze. Riley looked up to see Chelsea looking at him small smile on her face.

"Hey, it'll be alright Ri."

The hand remained there, and slowly Riley brought up and placed his own hand over top of it. After a moment he took it in his own, and gave it a small squeeze back.

Maybe things really would be alright.

- - -

**Review**! It's just a nice, green button below here, that nicely says "review", now go ahead and do so, please, won't you? (Aaah, very bad poetry...)


	7. Chapter 7

**Loss **

FantasysMagic

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, Disney does.

Chapter: Seven

- - -

Laughter echoed throughout the house, bouncing off the walls and into the darkest corners of the darkest rooms. Everyone was celebrating tonight; celebrating the fact that everything went off without a hitch, that no one got hurt, and of course, that they had managed to successfully transfer no less than $350,000 into the fake account that had been set up three weeks before. No one had been caught, and from the news reports that were relaying all across the news stations, no one even knew yet the amount of money that was stolen. Cases of alcohol were being tossed and handed around at random, everyone allowed to have as much drink as they wanted. Tonight was a party, a celebration, and everyone deserved to have a good time. Matt however, had refused to have any more than one can of beer. While he enjoyed drinking as much as the next guy, he knew the importance of who and what they were doing remaining a secret, and he wasn't about to let everyone get drunk and have that secret accidentally slip. So he sat behind the kitchen island, watching everyone talk loudly and chatter incessantly, with his one can of beer in his hand, and his watchful eye roaming the room.

Riley had never liked alcohol. In truth, he didn't even like being around people who drank. People became different when they got drunk. They became either really stupid, or scarier than a Halloween movie. Riley had lived with drunkards all around him while growing up, and he had promised himself that he would never touch a drop of alcohol as long as he lived. Up till now it had been easy to refuse the substance without a second thought, but now, with his...his friends all around him, pushing the beer in his face, drunkenly telling him to lighten up and get smashed with them, he was finding it very hard to say no. It wasn't that he was tempted to actually get drunk, but it was the fact that it was these people who were telling him to do so that was making him reconsider his stance. He didn't want to drink, heck, he didn't even really want to be with everyone who was drinking right now, but the need to prove his worth, to show them that he wasn't some weakling Black Heart, was making it so very difficult to say no.

"Come on Ri, just _one_ drink." Devon said, pushing an open can of beer into Riley's chest, causing some of the contents to spill over and onto Riley's shirt. Riley shook his head, lightly pushing Devon's hand away.

"No Devon, i-it's alright, I'm fine for now."

Devon gave Riley a look, but realising that any more attempts were wasted on his friend, sauntered off to go find someone else who would be a little more willing to drink and be merry with him.

Riley looked around the room, and seeing that no one was really focused on him, walked over to the kitchen sink and got a glass of water from the tap. Just as he was about to take a drink, Matt's voice spoke up from behind him.

"Having fun?"

Riley jerked, and swivelled around to face the man; as he did so though, the glass cup, still lowered under the tap, hit against the sink, and Riley's grip quickly lost its hold, causing the glass to fall to the ground, and shatter into a bunch of broken pieces.

"Oh! S-sorry about that, M-matt," Riley stuttered. He bent down on the floor and started to grab the broken glass, though in his attempt to clean up the mess as fast as he could, he failed to notice the sharp edges of the glass biting into his hands, causing blood to appear and pool in his palms as he carried the glass to the trash bin.

Matt watched him come back to pick up the last few pieces, and when he finally came back, Matt handed him a towel. Riley took it without question, though it wasn't until he saw the blood on his hands did he realise what it was for.

"Oh, um, thanks." Riley started cleaning off the blood, doing his best to go as quickly as possible; he didn't want Matt to get mad at him for being too slow. While he looked up to, and respected Matt greatly, he still feared him. While everyone usually got along great with each other, he had quickly come to notice the things that set off their leaders, Matt and Brians. He had seen what happened when another person in the group messed up, doing something Matt or Brians didn't like. They would get slapped, or hit. And especially yelled at. Once, someone had even been taken into the basement. Riley shuddered at the memory. He didn't ever want to go there again if he could help it, and so to do that he would be everything Matt and Brians wanted him to be. He would be fast, he would be efficient, he would never talk back, and he would try to do anything they asked. It was usually at this time in Riley's thinking that the small voice in the back of his mind would speak up, saying that he shouldn't be here, that he shouldn't be wanting to do anything any of these people tell him to do. But whenever he thought this, a newer, stronger voice would jump out in the back of his mind, and it would attribute all his thoughts of doubt and rebellion to having been in the company of Black Hearts for so long.

"Ah-." Riley winced as the towel brushed roughly against one of the cuts, causing his hand to sting painfully. He quickly took the cloth and pressed it against the wound, trying to quell the pain until it fully died down. But before his body had any time to even attempt to stop the stinging, Matt suddenly grabbed and took the cloth away. Riley looked up at him, confused, but Matt just looked back at him with a smile.

"We all deserve what we get, and it's not for us to try and stop that, is it Riley?"

Riley bit his bottom lip for a brief moment, then nodded his head, understanding what Matt was telling him.

"Yes."

Matt tossed the dirtied towel in the sink. "Good." Matt then turned and left the kitchen, and made his way over to Devon and Kyle, who were currently in the midst of playing tic-tac-toe on the wall with permanent markers.

Riley stared after Matt as he went, his hands hanging loosely by his side. He had been thinking all evening of when the best time would be to ask Matt the questions that had been burning in his mind since the job that afternoon. Should he tell Matt that he saw Ben in the bank that day? Should he be upset that he saw him? And if not, how could he stop thinking about him? What should be feeling? Should he be angry, upset? Should he be glad that Ben was there, frightened, getting what a Black Heart deserved? Riley didn't know what to do.

In the end, as he watched Matt interact with the rest of the group, Riley decided that it would be best to just let this one go. He would forget that he ever saw Ben in the bank, and he wouldn't let it bother him any longer.

Easier said than done, however.

Riley sighed and ran a hand through his hair, before turning and heading out of the room towards the darkened stairs. He didn't notice as the fresh blood from his hands smeared across his forehead, and into his bangs.

- - -

Ben sat on his couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table that rested in front of him, his eyes staring broodingly at the TV that sat against the wall. Abigail was beside him, her feet curled up underneath her, with her head resting on his shoulder, and her arms wrapped securely around his waist. It was going on to 11pm, and she had fallen asleep about an hour ago, the excitement of the day having finally caught up with her. Ben was tired too, but he wasn't ready to head to bed yet. The day's events were still swirling around in his mind, and he couldn't stop thinking of all that had happened. The simple terror that came from being in a bank that was being robbed was horrible enough, and he was sure that he wasn't going to get over that feeling of complete and utter helplessness and fear of his and others' lives any time soon. But added to that was the man he had seen – one of the robbers who had been doing the wire transfer. Thought's swam through his head, whispering his hopes and fears of who that man may have been. Earlier in the day Ben could have almost sworn that the man doing the transfer was Riley Pool. But now, after the adrenaline and fear had abated, he was no longer so sure. He remembered the conversation with Abigail that he had had right after he had come home from the bank, and how she had run up and into his arms when he barely stepped a foot out of the car.

Ben parked the car outside the house, and it wasn't until the cars' engine quieted did he realized that his hands were shaking. He stared at them curiously, as though unsure as to why they wouldn't stop moving. It was Abigail's scream that brought him out of his stupor.

"BEN!!!"

Ben quickly opened the door and stepped out of the car, and before he could take two steps Abigail had crashed into his arms and squeezed him tightly, her sobs racking her body as she hugged him tighter and tighter.

"Ben, Ben... oh Ben... I thought, I thought you were-."  
"Ssh, ssh... it's okay Abby, I'm alright. They didn't even shoot anyone."

At the mention of shooting, Abigail's sobs became louder and her hold around Ben came close to strangling.

"Abby, Abigail – I'm alright. I'm fine. See?" Ben managed to pry Abigail off him long enough so that he was able to push her back and force her to look at him. While her eyes were filled with tears, she managed to look Ben up and down a few times, before nodding her head. Ben smiled, and pulled her back into an embrace. They just stood there for what seemed like forever – just holding each other, letting each other know that everything was okay now, that Ben hadn't been hurt, and that any fears of never seeing each other again were now gone.

Finally Ben and Abigail parted, though remained side by side with an arm each around the other as they went inside the house. Once inside, Ben closed the door and the two walked over to the kitchen, where Abigail went into full wife mode.

"Is there anything I can get you? Do you want something to drink? To eat? You look famished. Do you want me to make you some coffee? Can I-."

Ben laughed.

"Abigail, it's fine. I'm fine. You don't need to get me anything."  
Abigail looked unsurely at him, and Ben shook his head.

"I'm fine Abigail, really."

Reluctantly Abigail accepted his claims, and she sat on one of the stools around the island, her hands quickly reaching over and grasping Bens.

The two remained there like that for a moment, the world seemingly having come to a stop as they just silently took in each other's presence. Then finally, Ben spoke up.

"I was in the line closest to the bank machines."

Abigail looked up and bit her lip, her attention completely on her husband.

"Everything was normal, just going as everything does. Then suddenly, this guy comes in and yells at everyone to get down. People started screaming, and more guys came in. They had guns pointed at everyone, telling us to take out our cell phones so that we couldn't call anyone. They didn't go to the tellers, though. I didn't really think of why or why not at the time, since I was more focused on the fact that there were actually people in there with guns in their hands." Abigail squeezed Ben's hand reassuringly. Ben took a deep breath, then continued. "Then suddenly, these two guys start walking over to me. At first I thought they had figured out who I was, and was going to try and take my money or hold me for ransom or something. But they walked right past me, right to the bank machine. It was a man and a woman. It wasn't until the man pulled out some kind of machine and started hooking up some wires did I realize that they were going to do a wire transfer. The guy typed really fast, Abigail. I mean, super fast. Like 'Riley' fast." Abigail remained silent and unmoving, not realizing what her husband was getting at. "The guy looked at me, and when he did he stopped moving. I figured he'd just go right back to the machine, but he actually stared at me. But then...but then the woman, she... she told him to hurry up. She... she called him "Ri", Abigail." Abigail's body stiffened, and she sat up a little straighter as she realized what Ben was getting at.

"Ben?"

"I know Abigail, I know. I figured it must have been a fluke. That it was pure chance this computer guy had 'Ri' as a nickname. But then she used his full name. It was Riley." The two remained silent for a moment, before Ben said, "What if, what if that guy was... I mean, no one's as good as hacking into computers and all that stuff as Riley is, and I mean, when the guy saw me he-." Abigail pulled her hands from Ben's, and folded them onto her lap.

"Ben, whoever that was, it wasn't Riley."

Ben looked up at her, worry creased all over his brow.

"But Abigail, he was-."

"The reason he paused to look at you was probably because he recognized you as Benjamin Gates, the famous treasure hunter. He probably was contemplating on whether or not to use you as... as ransom, or to try and get your money. And there are lots of guys out there Ben who can hack into a computer or bank machine just as fast as Riley can, if not faster." Ben remained silent. He had thought of that already, but hope had crept into his thoughts, both hope and fear. Hope that the person he had seen was indeed his friend, that it was proof his friend wasn't dead, and fear of what had happened to have forced him into helping someone rob a bank. Abigail continued, "And there are many people in the world named Riley. Ben, we can't jump to conclusions like that. We can't jump at every dime and nickel that falls to the ground, hoping that it's a twenty dollar bill."

Ben turned away, a hand on his head and rubbing his temples. She was right. Abigail was right. He couldn't jump at every person who resembled Riley, in hopes that it was him. He had to be sensible. People were still searching for Riley, the FBI were still aware that he was out there somewhere. There was still a strong chance that he could be found. But then he remembered the voice. Ben swung around on the stool, facing Abigail once more.

"He spoke. The guy spoke. Abigail, he sounded just like Riley. Just like Riley. He-."

A choked sob escaped Abigail's throat, and Ben stopped in his tracks. Abigail brought her hand over to Ben's, and rubbed his hands shakily.  
"Ben, I'm sorry – I'm sorry but it wasn't him. Lots of people sound alike, lots of people even look alike...But it wasn't... whomever you saw wasn't Riley. Don't hurt yourself even more by believing it is."

Ben couldn't help but believe her. She was right, the man most likely than not was not Riley. And he would only make things worse by believing it was.

Ben sighed, and shut off the TV. Everything was silent for a moment, the mansion quiet and unmoving, Abigail's quiet breathing as her chest silently rose and fell. Ben relished the stillness after such a tumultuous day. It didn't last long however, as the phone suddenly rang.

Ring, ring.

Ben sighed once more, and quietly stood to his feet, gently laying Abigail down on the couch. She mumbled incoherently, but did not wake.

Ben walked over to his cell phone that lay on the kitchen island, and quickly flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Ben!"

Ben's eyes widened, and his mouth slowly curved upwards into a smile.

"Charlie? Charlie Hayes, is that you?"

Charlie Hayes was an old college friend of Ben's, who had originally been very much involved with Ben and his search for the Templar Treasure, before a family illness took him away. He was an archaeologist who Ben kept in touch with often. At least, before Riley had disappeared.

"Of course it's me! How have you been? Oh, uh... I mean..."

"It's fine Charlie, don't worry about."

"Oh, uh, right. Anyways, um, I have something to tell you that I think you might be very interested in."

Ben pulled out a stool and sat down on it, leaning his arm against the island.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Well, ever since you found the Templar's Treasure, people have been working day and night to remove it."

This came as no surprise to Ben. He had known that teams of archaeologists and historians had been working diligently to move all the treasure into museums, and how even though it had been nearly a year since the discovery, there were still some left over treasure to be removed. But before he could respond, Charlie continued.

"They found a door."

Ben froze.

"...What?"

"When someone moved one of the statues, they found a door behind it. You can imagine the uproar that caused-."

"Did they open it? What's inside? Have they-." Ben's mood had immediately changed from subdued to beyond excited. The thought of a hidden door in the treasure room... why, it was nearly incomprehensible! Questions flew through Ben's mind. Who had built it? What was its purpose? What lay behind it? Was it more treasure? Or did it perhaps lead somewhere else? But one question in particular quickly made itself forefront in Ben's mind.

"Why are you calling me? Shouldn't that be something for the archaeologists to deal with?"

"Well, yeah. But they've requested you personally, Ben. They didn't know how to contact you so they asked me, since they knew I know you personally. They want someone who knows the Templar Treasure better than anyone else – and that's you. Plus, they also think it's only right that the one who found the treasure help find whatever more that there is."

Ben was silent, taking this new revelation and request in. After a few moments, Charlie spoke up.

"So... will you take it?"

This seemed to snap Ben out of his daze, and a grin spread across his face.

"Of course I'll take it! Just tell me when! I already know where."

- - -

It had been a week since the bank robbery, and so far the gang had been laying very low. Riley had remained at the house all week, resting after a job well done, according to Matt. Only a few members had gone out on "errands", but Riley had no clue as to where they went or what they did. Much of his time had been spent doing chores, or just watching TV. He still hadn't been allowed on a real computer yet, and that was something Riley was desperately wanting to change, and they only way he could do that was to be as good as he could, and do everything Matt and Brians said. Over the week he had even been spending more and more time with Chelsea, who seemed more than willing to spend time with him; and he had to admit, he found himself enjoying their time together.

"Hey Riley, Chelsea! Get down here!"

Riley swirled around in his chair, turning away from the window where he had been staring out onto the street. He had been watching everyone drive and walk past their house, trying to discern which were Black Hearts and which were Pure Hearts. It was very difficult, he had quickly found out, as he never knew if he was right or not, but Matt had insisted he do this exercise as often as he could. So he did.

Loud padding of feet sounded outside his open room, and Riley looked up to see Chelsea standing outside his door, a bright smile on her face. He could feel his heart quicken as she smiled at him.

"Come on Ri, it sounds like something important."

Riley nodded and got up, and the two walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Matt, Brians, Devon, and Kyle sat waiting for them. They walked in and quickly sat down around the table. A few papers lay in front of Matt, and Riley wondered what they were. He quickly got his answer, as Matt pushed the papers in front of him. It was a newspaper headline, printed out in bold, black letters:

**HIDDEN** **DOOR DISCOVERED IN TEMPLAR TREASURE ROOM - WHERE DOES IT GO? WHAT'S INSIDE? ONLY TIME** **WILL TELL.**

Riley stared at the headline, not sure of what it meant. He looked back up in confusion, only to see that Matt was grinning at him.

"Ready for our next adventure, Riley?"

- - -

Not much, but we're very close to the 'arc' of the story, if you will. It will probably be within the next chapter or two.

This 'once a month' updating is going to have to change. I feel horrible for putting it off for so long, and leaving you guys waiting for it for a whole month.

Hope you liked it, even though it was sort of only a filler. It was needed though.

**Please ****review****!** I promise to update if you do! (Reviews for poor rhyming?)


	8. Chapter 8

**Loss **

_FantasysMagic_

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, Disney does.

Warnings: Nothing that would be M rated.

Chapter: Eight

- - -

Ben grinned as he and Abigail walked down the steel staircase that spiralled downwards, and would eventually guide them into the doorways that would lead into the room of the Templar Treasure. It brought back all the memories and feelings that Ben had experienced that day, and Ben had to admit, not all of them were pleasant ones. Though there was at least one thing different as they made their way down below the Church.

"A bit easier than last time, huh Abigail?"

Abigail's face broke into a huge smile, and Ben could tell she was enjoying coming back here as much as he was.

"A bit easier than I remember, yeah. And knowing that we'll get out safely this time helps too."

Ben grinned, and grabbed Abigail's hand, and the two made their way down the rest of the staircase.

- - -

Riley rubbed the strands of blonde hair through his thumb and forefinger, unable to stop staring at his new self in the bedroom mirror.

Matt had insisted that Riley's hair be completely changed for the job they were about to do. Everyone had agreed, and although Riley had initially shied away from the idea, he had by now completely warmed up to it. Though he had to admit, now looking at himself in the mirror, part of him missed his black hair. Though blonde didn't look... too bad. And besides, if it helped their job go that much easier, then he would do it gladly. And in the end, if that's what Matt told him to do, then that's what he'd do.

"Hey Riley, you're looking good!"

Riley looked up in the mirror and saw Chelsea walking up behind him, a smile on her face. Riley allowed a small smile of his own to turn up his lips.

"Hey Chels."

Chelsea caught his eyes in the mirror, then looked down at his hair, and ruffled it with her hands, messing it up so that it hung over Riley's eyes, and stood up every which way.

"How are you liking being a blonde? Feel you're IQ drop yet?"

Riley resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Matt and Brians never liked it when he rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. You know as well as I do that hair color has absolutely nothing to do with how smart you are."

"Yes, well..."

Chelsea grinned at Riley, then walked over beside him and slowly sat down on his lap. Riley remained motionless, but couldn't help but smirk. This had become common in the past month, and he always enjoyed it when Chelsea came to "talk".

Chelsea saw his smirk, and her grin turned into a smirk of her own. She tapped Riley's lips with her finger lightly, then trailed it down his face and neck until she reached his chest. She then leaned in, and placed her lips on Riley's, drawing him into a kiss.

Riley closed his eyes, and kissed her back.

After a few minutes, footsteps were heard coming up the stairs, and Chelsea quickly broke apart and stood up, catching her breath and straightening her shirt, just before Matt walked into the room.

"Hey Riley, you ready to go?"

Riley turned around and stood up, nodding his head.

Matt grinned at him, then turned his attention to Chelsea, who broke out into a smile.

"Hey Chelsea girl," he said, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She grinned back, and wrapped her hands around his neck, and the two leaned into each other and started kissing. A swell of jealousy rose up in Riley, and he glared at Matt openly, until the two broke apart, at which point Riley quickly checked himself, and Matt looked up at him angrily, nodding sharply at the door.

"Well get out of here!"

Riley quickly nodded his head and muttered a small, "Right." Before practically running out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

He stood still for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts, before walking down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Brians stood at the table, wearing jeans and a black hoodie, sorting though a black bag which obviously held the items needed for their job. Kyle sat on one of the chairs, holding a gun in his hand, and slowly pushing each bullet in as he loaded it. The people that were going to do the job were Matt, Brians, Chelsea, Kyle, and Riley himself. He didn't know where the rest of the group was. He rarely did.

Brians ignored him as he walked into the room, but Kyle glanced up at him briefly, before turning his attention back to his gun. Riley ran a hand through his hair – something he did when he was nervous. Finally he took a deep breath, then asked,

"So when are we going?"

Both Brians and Kyle looked up at him this time, Kyle with raised eyebrows and a look of, 'are you stupid?', and Brians with a glare.

"Mind who you're talking to, boy." said Brians, who then turned back to his bag. Riley didn't ask again, and instead remained quiet, waiting until someone finally told him what to do. After a ten minutes, he got his wish.

Brians didn't look up, but reached into his bag and said,

"All right boy, put this jacket on and get ready to go."

Brians handed Riley a black leather jacket, and Riley took it quickly and put it on without question. He wanted to know why no other attire was acquired, but knew better than to ask another question again. Matt and Chelsea then came down, both with an arm around each other's waist, and both with a grin on their face. Riley pushed down the feeling of jealousy that had started to rise again, and instead tried to catch Chelsea's eye, to offer a smile, but the woman deftly ignored him.

"All right guys, are we ready?" asked Matt as he broke away from Chelsea and walked over to the table, and picked up one of the guns that had been laying on it. He looked it over a few times, before sticking it in the inside of his jeans. He picked up another one and tossed it to Chelsea, who did the same thing. Matt then turned to the rest of the group.

"All right. It's 6:30pm right now, so we'll be there and starting by 7. We've already gone over this, so you all know what to do. Tonight they're not working in the teams like they have been, they have something else planned. But there won't be as many people, and so naturally everything will go much easier. We only have to worry about the guards, and because of the layout of the site, there are only two, who are at the front entrance. Those of course are easily taken care of. Once we're inside, just follow my lead until we get to the second treasure room. Once we're there, start packing; whatever looks the most valuable. Got that?"

Everyone nodded, and Matt grinned.

"All right then, let's get out of here and start this thing."

Everyone stood to their feet, and Riley was suddenly given a hand gun from Kyle, who told him to put it inside his inside jacket pocket. Riley looked inside his jacket, and sure enough, there was a gun holster inside. Riley smirked, and placed the gun in the holster. He'd had a few training session with a gun before, and he looked forward to finally being able to have one while on a job. It felt good to be trusted. He just hoped that he would be able to live up to Matt's expectations.

- - -

Ben stared with wide eyes as the woman, who had introduced herself as Rebecca Maiers, explained to them how they had found the hidden door, and how there were different options to how they could open it. Ben did his best to listen to her, but he was too enthralled with the ideas of what could be behind this door. Would it be another room full of treasure? Or would it be something else entirely? Finally he felt Abigail pinch his arm, and he quickly turned his attention back to Rebecca. The two discussed for a moment, and Ben studied the door carefully, trying to see if there was a secret way in. Finally he came to the conclusion that they would indeed have to use force. The door was made of wood, so it wasn't hard to break it down. Someone from Rebecca's team had an axe, which they quickly used to take down the door.

Once the dust had cleared, and the now pieces of wood had been removed, Ben was handed a flashlight by someone, he wasn't aware who; taking a deep breath, Ben stepped over the remains of the door, and walked into the darkness.

He turned his flashlight on, and looked around.

It was empty.

The room was empty. The only thing in it was the dust that had been collecting for hundreds of years.

It was empty.

Ben walked a few steps in, and he heard Abigail and Rebecca follow in behind. He heard a gasp, and figured it to have been Abigail.

He was shocked. After so many thoughts of what could have been in here, after all his wild imaginings of what kind of treasure needed a special room all for itself, he had never really given thought to the fact that there could be nothing.

Nothing.

How could... it was just ... nothi-.

He heard a gasp, then,

"Ben, look!"

Ben followed the light of Abigail's flashlight, which had landed on something on the opposite end of the room.

Another door.

It was another door.

This wasn't a treasure room, it was just a... a passage! A corridor! A rather large corridor perhaps, but corridor nonetheless.

There was more.

Ben could barely contain his excitement, and he quickly went and grabbed the axe, practically running to the new door. Without a second thought he began to swing, and soon the door was demolished, and he quickly shone his flashlight inside. At first he couldn't make out what it was, then seeing an unlit torch hanging on the wall, he realised what he needed.

"Someone get me a match, or a lighter! Something to start a fire!"

A lighter was quickly passed to him by Abigail, who was right behind him, eagerly waiting to see what he had found. Flicking the lighter on, Ben put it to the torch, and the torch lit up as though it had only recently been doused in fuel, and just as suddenly as it had lit, another lit, and another, and another; up and around and around and around the wall, going all the way up until Ben couldn't even see where it ended. And what it had revealed was a...

Staircase.

Another staircase, just like the first one.

But where did it lead? Where did –

And then Ben saw it.

It was a library. The room in itself was small, and comprised mainly of the staircase, but there were shelves surrounding the staircase – they were the walls that followed the staircase up to who knew where – and they were filled with books; centuries old books, along with scrolls, and ancient artefacts.

Ben placed a foot on the first stair, and tested it carefully, before stepping up, and onto another.

- - -

They had taken care of the guards as easily as Matt had said they would. Contrary to what Riley had initially thought, they didn't use their guns – instead they just held them both at gun point, and then hit them over the head – hard. Matt claimed that by the time they woke up, they would be long gone.

The group made their way down the staircase, and Riley felt an almost unbearable, overwhelming sense of déjà vu. When the memories started to resurface of what this place was, what had happened here, and who he had been with, Riley visibly cringed at the realisation, and he quickly suppressed them, just as Matt had told him to. Those memories weren't apart of his life now. They were wrong, they were when he had been mislead, deceived by the world. He wasn't mislead now. He knew exactly what those memories were. They were meaningless.

They were nothing.

The group made their way down the staircase, and soon got to the bottom. As they made their way through the passages, Riley began to wonder if he shouldn't have asked to have stayed behind. The memories of this place kept bombarding him at each and every turn, and while he ignored them best he could, he couldn't ignore them completely. He was relieved one they had arrived at the treasure room, which was now nearly empty of artefacts, and had electric lights strewn all across the wall, lighting up the room in a way no flame could. No one was in there, and it took a bit of searching to finally see where they had gone.

A door on the wall to their right was broken, and pieces of the wood lay together in a pile. The group walked over to the door, and suddenly began to hear voices. They were echoing off the walls, and Matt motioned for them to be silent. They were, and after a few minutes Matt began walking again.

The inside of the room was empty, but Matt ignored it, focussed instead on the next door – the one with the light streaming through it, along with the voices.

A young man with brown, curly hair could be seen at the base of a staircase, looking up, oblivious to the rest of the world around him. A woman stood ahead of him, looking at what appeared to be a bookshelf. Matt silently crept up on the boy, and quickly grabbed him and placed a hand over his mouth, dragging him back into the darkness, and eventually hitting him over the head with his gun, knocking him out. He motioned to the others, and everyone took out and put on their black ski masks.

Riley watched as Kyle tied up the now unconscious young man, and Matt as he grabbed and knocked out the woman in the same way. He handed her to Riley, who took a piece of rope from Kyle's hand, and proceeded to tie the black haired woman up.

He didn't feel even a twinge of guilt doing it – really, he didn't.

And then came the hard part.

Matt walked into the room carefully, and saw another woman, this time a blonde, a few steps up the stair case, entranced by something on one of the shelves. Matt looked up higher, and saw quite a few steps higher stood a man, not paying any attention to what was going on below. Matt saw his chance, and took it.

He dashed up the stairs and grabbed the woman, who abruptly began to scream.

"BEN!!"

Ben was torn from his trance, and he looked down, where he saw Abigail being taken by a man in a ski mask, a gun in his hand.

"ABIGAIL!!" Ben yelled, and he ran down the stairs, not caring for a moment that one of them might break beneath him.

"ABIGAIL! ABGAIL!! Let her go, you-."

The man wrapped an arm around Abigail's throat, and pushed the gun against her head, cocking his head to the side.

"Uh uh uh! Stay where you are Mr. Gates, and you're wife won't get hurt."

Ben stilled, now standing only a few steps from the ground.

After a moment of silence, Matt nodded his head.

"All right guys, go."

Four people from behind him spanned out, black duffle bags in their hands. Two began on the ground, taking objects from the shelves by the door and the base of the staircase, while another ran up past Ben and began grabbing items from the higher shelves. The last one was about to head up the stairs as well, but was stopped by the leader.

"You're with me." He said.

The other man nodded, and remained where he was.

Ben wondered why these people looked so familiar. Their masks, their clothes... one of them was even a woman, and she-.

Then it clicked.

"You guys are the ones who robbed the bank."

The leader seemed surprised, then said,

"Well well, you're not as stupid as I thought you were Mr. Gates."

The man took off his ski mask and grinned.

"Annoying things to breathe through, those are." He stuffed the mask in his pocket, before aiming his gun at Ben.  
"All right Mr. Gates, we don't want to hurt either of you, so if you could just come with me..."

Ben. It was Ben. And Abigail. Matt hadn't told them they'd be meeting up with Ben and Abigail. Part of Riley wanted to run, to get away from them as far as possible. But another part of him, a quickly rising part of him, felt anger.

These were the people who had deceived him – who had ruined his life. They were the Black Hearts- killers, murderers. They caused the death of millions of people; they ruined people's lives – people who needed money, who needed homes, who needed food. But most of all, Ben and Abigail were the ones that had ruined his life. It was their fault that he had been beaten all those months, it was their fault he had to leave his home, it was their fault...

But they were his friends. They were Ben and Abigail, they were...

Riley could feel a headache start to form, and he rubbed his hand against his head, trying to quell it. He then quickly backed up as Matt led Gates down the staircase, and into the small space right beneath the staircase. He then told him to sit down, which he did, and Matt then pushed Gates' wife down beside him. Taking some rope out of his bag, he tossed it to Riley.  
"You tie up the girl, I'll tie up Gates."

Riley pushed all thoughts and feelings of anger and confusion out of his mind, and knelt down in front of Abigail, and began tying her hands and feet. He hoped Matt didn't see how his hands were shaking as he worked.

As they tied both Gates in silence, Riley began to have an unnerving feeling that someone was watching him. He glanced up at Ben, and saw the man staring intently back at him, practically unaware of the trouble he was in, but instead focussed entirely on Riley. He wasn't glaring, nor was his eyes filled with the fear or hatred that Riley was used to seeing from people. He was just... staring.

Riley stared right back, his eyes showing no emotion as he finished tying Abigail's hands together. He heard yelp – obviously he had tied the rope a bit too tight, but he didn't care. He kept his eye contact with Gates, and finished the last knot. Before he stood up, he accidentally caught Abigail's eyes, and he stared at her briefly. She was frightened –her face was filled with fear. But then her eyebrows slowly furrowed, and a touch of confusion crossed her face.

Riley ignored this, and stood up to his feet. He walked a few steps away, trying to get himself together. He had a job to do, he had to get the most valuable items here, and-.

"Riley."

It wasn't much more than a whisper, but Riley caught it. He stilled.

They knew who he was. They had figured it out. How, he didn't know, but they had figured it out.

What should he do?

- - -

A/N

Not a good cliff hanger, I know, but it's the best I could do.

Well it's here! You guys have waited forever, and now I've finally updated. I hope there are still those interested, and not angry enough to stop reading. We're coming to the end!!

For those who are still reading, and haven't stopped, to you I say a big, big thank you. You guys are why I continue this (that, and I want to see the ending as well).

**Please review!** Reviews tell me if people are interested, and if it's worth continuing to write and update.

Thanks so much!


	9. Chapter 9

**Loss **

_FantasysMagic_

Disclaimer: I do not own National Treasure, Disney does.

Warnings: Nothing that would be M rated.

Chapter: Nine

"Riley."

It wasn't much more than a whisper, but Riley caught it. He stilled.

They knew who he was. They had figured it out. How, he didn't know, but they had figured it out.

What should he do?

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to react, how he was _supposed_ to react. He looked over at Matt, begging for guidance in what to do, but Matt was over at the bottom of the staircase, dumping books carelessly into his duffle bag; obviously having left Riley to stand guard. Realising this, Riley tried to calm down the ever increasing thumping heart in his chest; trying to still his nerves that were making him want to just bolt and run.

"It's you, isn't it?" Ben whispered. His eyes took on a look of contained excitement, and while his face remained calm and relatively stoic, Riley could see the small upturn of his lips that betrayed his joy. Riley said nothing, but Ben continued,

"I knew it was you the moment I saw you in the bank! I hadn't thought at first it was you, but then I – I just _knew_ it was you, I _knew_ it was you! No one can handle computers as fast as you can, and when I saw you-." Ben's voice suddenly stopped, and his eyes widened, as his elation at having found Riley came crashing with reality. "But why – why are you... Riley you helped rob a bank, there were guns, there were people – someone could have gotten hurt, or worse, killed! Why did you -." Ben's eyes widened as his mind came to a realisation.

"You're being forced to do what they tell you. They forced you to rob the bank, and now they're..." Ben's voice trailed off as his mind flew into overdrive, coming up with all the possibilities of why Riley was where he was, and what his captors were doing to him that would make him do all these things.

Riley glanced back and forth from Ben and Abigail to Matt, trying to gauge when it would be best to say something, or whether he should just continue to stay silent. He was trying his best to ignore what Ben was saying, but at the same time it wasn't like he could just turn off his hearing. Matt had been constantly telling him that all his old friends, namely Ben and Abigail, had been out to ruin his life from the moment he met them; that everything they said was planned, that everything they did was intentional, and that nothing about them and their "friendship" was real. And here they were now, acting happy and overjoyed at having supposedly "found" him. They didn't find him, Riley thought, they hadn't even been looking. They just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. And if Riley had a choice, he'd be back home, or out doing a job somewhere else. Anything but be here right now, with these people in front of him.

"Are you okay Riley? What have they been doing to you?"

Riley looked up from his thoughts, and saw that Ben was staring at him eagerly, impatiently waiting for his response. Riley said nothing, and tore his eyes away from the older man, turning his gaze to his friends, who were still looking and sorting through books and objects, picking what looked like the most valuable, and carelessly throwing away the rest. Riley silently watched as Kyle grabbed one of the books off the shelves, flipped it back and forth, then threw it over his back and continued looking for more. Riley's eyes followed the book as it fell down through the air, and for a brief moment, a part of him instinctively wanted to reach out and catch it, to save it from being destroyed or damaged; but as soon as the feeling came, he pushed it away, and the book fell onto the floor in front of him with a thud. He stared at it for a moment, and if he had looked up he would have seen Ben and Abigail staring at it too – perhaps trying to read a long since faded title or author – then he suddenly kicked it roughly aside. He looked up at Ben, and could see his gaze linger on the broken book, before turning his attention back to Riley with confused eyes.

"Riley," he whispered, and then seemed to think better of what he was going to say, and shook his head instead, before quietly continuing, "Riley I understand that you can't talk freely or anything, that you're being forced to do this, but I have a plan. Just wait a few minutes, and when I start complaining about the ropes being too tight, you can pretend you're just loosening them, and then take them fully off. These idiots are too busy grabbing stuff, they won't even notice!"

And as much as Riley hated Ben, as much as he despised him for all that he had done to him, part of Riley still didn't want him and Abigail to die. So with a quick glance at Matt, who was now a few steps up the stairs, Riley looked back at Ben and Abigail and spoke quietly.

"Look, just... just stay where you are. If you don't do anything, we won't hurt you. All we want is the valuables, just stay out of our way, let us do our thing, and we'll be gone before you know it."

Ben blinked. Of all the things he had expected of Riley, doing nothing to escape had not been one of them. He glanced at Abigail, who's face mirrored an expression much like his own.

_He's scared. _Ben thought. _He's probably tried to escape before, and now he doesn't even want to try. But he's wrong. They won't leave us alone, we've seen too much. They'll kill all of us. Abigail, me, and probably Riley too. We have to get out of here. _

"Look Riley," said Abigail for the first time, "You don't have to be scared. Those guys who kidnapped you are just a bunch of idiots –untie us, and we'll make a run for it out the door. We'll take the old stairwell, just like we did before!" Abigail let break a small smile. "We'll all be out of here before you even know it; we'll get the police, and then we'll go home. _Home_."

Riley frowned as Abigail spoke, especially when she called his friends, no, his _family_, idiots. Ben had called them that too. As if they knew anything. As if they even knew who they were talking about. But they didn't know.

"We'll get the police, and they'll lock them up in jail, and you'll be free and-."

Anger started to burn in him. He felt his facemask scratch against his skin, and he was starting to get annoyed that he couldn't breathe properly. He listened as Ben and Abigail both continued to talk fervently of their escape plan, how they were so happy to see him again, how they were so sorry that they hadn't found him before now. Part of Riley wondered why no one else was telling them to quiet down, but glancing up he saw that all four of them were now quite a ways up the stairwell, and probably couldn't hear what was going on.

"We're your best friends Riley, we won't let anything happen to you anymore. We love you Ri."

That was the last straw.

Anger coursed hotly through Riley's veins, and in one swift movement he tore off his ski mask, and grabbed his gun, pointing it directly at Ben.

"SHUT UP! JUST _SHUT _UP_!"_

Ben and Abigail froze. All the noise from the staircase stopped as well, and silence over took the room briefly, before Abigail's shocked whisper,  
"Riley?"

Ben stared at Riley in utter and complete shock. He was pointing a gun at him. _Riley_ was pointing a _gun_, at _him_. And he was angry, that was plain to see. Riley never got angry. Well, he got angry, everyone got angry. But not like this. Never like this. And his hair – for a moment Ben thought it was perhaps a weird catch of the light, but looking closer he realized that Riley's hair was blonde, a stark and vivid contrast to his natural colour of black. And his face – Ben looked at it for the first time in nearly four months, and was shocked when he saw how different it was then when he last saw it. How different _Riley_ was. And as he stared into Riley's eyes, he realized something – maybe Riley hadn't been faking his compliance with his captors after all.

Abigail moved her leg, and Riley's aim swung to her. She froze immediately.

"Don't move!" he said. "I just want everyone to shut up, so DON'T MOVE!" His voice was shook when he spoke, and part of him was saying that he had to lower the gun, that he couldn't do something like this. Whether or not it was because of Matt's orders, or because it was Ben and Abigail he was threatening, he didn't know. The other part of him just didn't care.

Ben spoke a second before Matt did.

"Riley-."

"Riley."

Riley's eyes jumped back and forth from Ben to Matt, not sure who required the most of his attention right now. His eyes finally settled on Ben, but his voice spoke to Matt.

"What?" he asked quietly.

Matt had taken a few steps down the stairs, and was only a couple steps away from the floor. He looked at Riley and held his gaze, his left hand holding on lightly to the banister, his right raised to show that he wasn't armed, and that all he wanted to do was talk. He knew how dangerous people could be when they were angry and confused – especially when those angry and confused people had guns.

"Riley, put the gun down." He said calmly.

Riley's hand began to shake, and he raised the other one to try and hold it steady. He swallowed, then said, "They're evil, Matt. You said it yourself. They're evil and they need to die."

He aimed the gun back at Ben. Ben unconsciously tensed, but his mind was rapidly processing what Riley had just said. He had said they were evil, that they needed to die. How could he think something that crazy? Something that... that...

"They're Blackhearts, they purposely destroy everyone around them! You said so yourself!"

Matt stepped cautiously down the last few steps of the stairs, and quietly touched the floor, his right hand still raised, and his left now making its way slowly down to his side, where his gun was held in the waistband of his jeans.

"Your right Riley, you're right. They are evil. No denying that. But I need you to lower your gun, okay?"

Riley's eyes darted back and forth between Ben and Abigail, along with the aim of his gun. Part of him, the part that had been so honed by Matt and Brians into obeying their every command, wanted to put the gun down and do as Matt had told him. But he was confused. He was so angry at Ben and Abigail, for what they called Matt and the others, for being Blackhearts, for... for... Riley wasn't even sure what for. But he was angry. And at the moment, that reason alone was enough for him to keep the gun raised.

"They need to die, Matt." He said.

Matt didn't reply, and silence temporarily encompassed the room. A moment later Riley aimed his gun back to Ben once again, his confused thoughts trying to organize themselves, trying to figure out what to do.  
Ben stared at Riley. Though now his eyes were filled with a sudden and terrifying realization. The reason Riley had been acting so quiet since their capture, the reason he hadn't given any hint whatsoever that he was planning to escape or even help them escape, the reason why he was now aiming a gun his friends heads.

Riley had been... brainwashed.

It was a horrible and terrifying truth to realize, and although Ben tried, he could find no other answer for why Riley was acting like this. He had been brainwashed. He obviously didn't know all what he had been made to believe, but one thing was for certain – he had been brainwashed into believing that somehow he and Abigail were evil people. 'Blackhearts', as he had called them. And apparently being a Blackheart gave you an automatic death sentence.

Riley swallowed, though his mouth was dry. How could Ben and Abigail do this? How could they just sit there and act as though they had done nothing wrong? As though he didn't know everything they had tried to do to him. As though he were completely unaware of all that they had done.

A moment passed, then a whisper.

"Why?"

Ben almost didn't hear the one word question, and probably would have missed it if he hadn't seen Riley's lips move. He knew that Riley had to be messed up, that he had to be confused out of his mind right now, and so he chose his words carefully and spoke them as calmly as he could.

"Why what, Riley?"

"Why me? Why did you want to ruin _my_ life? What had I ever done to you?" Riley's voice shook, and his eyes became hot and wet, as he finally voiced the question that had been haunting him for what seemed like a lifetime.

Ben did his best to keep his face clear of any emotion, but inside his thoughts were churning. How could Riley think that he had somehow wanted to ruin his life? What had happened to him to make him come to believe such a foolish and beyond ridiculous idea?

"I never wanted to ruin your life, Riley. Nothing I ever did was intended to harm you or hurt you in anyway. You're my best friend Riley. I love you."

At those three words, Riley's barriers, set up by Matt, Brians, and all the others he had for some reason come to call his family, began to tremble. He didn't know what to do. Matt, Brians, _everyone_ had told him that Ben and Abigail were evil – that they had always and only ever wanted to ruin his life, to make him evil, just like them. He swallowed again. His arms were starting to tire, and instead of anger, he now mostly felt confused. He thought immediately of Matt, and of everything he had told him. He had become so sure of it in the past months, he had believed it so strongly.

At least, he'd thought he had.

He had thought that Ben had wanted to destroy him, destroy his life. That their friendship was a crock. Nothing more than a lie made up by Ben, and believed by himself. And here Ben was, naming off all the things they had done together over the years, all their adventures, all the times they had ended up on each other's doorsteps, needing a place to stay, a friend to talk to. He had even said he was his best friend, that he loved him. It seemed so genuine. So... so _real_. So not like the picture Matt and the others had painted for him.

Ben continued talking, trying to get through to Riley. Trying to convince him somehow, trying to give him reason to doubt whatever beliefs his captors had instilled in him. He didn't care anymore about the others who were there, he only wanted to get through to Riley. To make him see what his kidnappers had done to him. To make him see the truth. As he talked, Abigail would add her own voice, agreeing with Ben, or sharing her own stories of her friendship with Riley. They watched as Riley's confidence began to waver, and then evidently began to crumble.

"Riley," Ben said at last, "This isn't you. You know who you are. And you know who we are. You _know_, Riley. You _know_."

Something hot and wet ran down Riley's cheek, and without even really thinking, he began to lower the gun.

And Matt raised his.

"Riley, come over here."

Riley, Ben and Abigail's heads all turned towards Matt. Riley's eyes widened in shock.

"Matt? Matt, wh-what are you doing?"

Matt had been pointing the gun at Riley, but after looking Riley straight in the eyes for a few tense moments, he turned it towards Ben and Abigail.

"Riley I said, come over here."

Everyone stood completely still, no one daring to move even a limb as they waited to see what would happen.

Riley stared at Matt, torn in his confusion over what to do.

"Riley, don't do it." Said Ben.

Riley paused mid-step and looked back.

"Riley." Matt said sternly.

Riley stared into Ben's eyes one more time, before finally turning and walking over to Matt.

When he got there, there was a brief pause, and Matt gave Riley a small, reassuring smile, before,

_SMACK_

Riley's head had turned to the side from the force of the blow that came from Matt's hand across his cheek. The room was silent, and as soon as Riley turned his head back, there came another loud and resounding _SMACK. _

When Riley turned his head back again, he was only met by Matt's cold and glaring eyes. Nobody said anything for a moment, until Matt, still glaring at Riley, said,  
"Everyone pack up. We're getting out of here."

There wasn't a moment's hesitation before the sound of bags being lifted up was heard as the last few items were thrown into the bags and everyone began to descend the stairs.

As people started to gather at the bottom, Matt turned his attention to Kyle, though never taking his eyes off Riley.

"Kyle go and make sure the coast is clear before we go."

Kyle didn't say a word and quickly left the room.

Brians adjusted the bag he was carrying on his back, looking from Riley to Matt. Chelsea was looking at neither, and instead had opted to check out one of the goblets that she had found sitting in the wall. Silence fell in the group, until she broke it by asking,  
"How much you think this is worth Matt?" she looked at the goblet, turning it this way and that, looking at all the intricate designs and hidden stones that encompassed it.

"I don't know Chels, maybe you should ask Mr. Gates over there."

The attention suddenly turned back to Ben, as both Brians and Chelsea looked over at him.

"Well?" Asked Chelsea, throwing the goblet in the air and catching it back in her hand. "You're mister history-geek. How much is something like this worth in today's market?"

Ben didn't want to say anything, but a slight nudge from Abigail told him he should do it.

"Well?" Chelsea demanded.

"From what I can see, which isn't much mind you, since it's so far away, but from what I can tell it looks like it probably came from the mid fourteenth century England. It doesn't look too roughed up, but again, I can't see well so-."

"Just tell me the price you moron! All I want is to know how much it's worth. I don't want a whole stupid history lesson."

Ben paused, then said,  
"Today it would probably be worth about seven thousand dollars."

Chelsea, satisfied, looked back at the goblet in approval before tossing it carelessly back into the bag. Barely a few seconds passed afterwards before the sound of running footsteps was suddenly heard, and a moment later Kyle came bursting into the room, out of breath.  
"There's voices from up top boss." He said breathlessly. "The sound like they're coming from a ways up yet, but they're definitely making their way down. I don't think they know anything's up, but once they get down here-."

"Right." Said Matt. "We'll take the back staircase and keep going along the route we planned out. Everyone move out."

The other's packed up their bags, and started to quickly make their way out of the room. Matt picked up his bag, and handed it to Riley.

"Do something like that again and you're gone, you hear me?"

Riley internally sighed in relief, glad the tense stand off was finally over.

"Yes Matt."  
"Alright. Let's go."

But Ben couldn't let them leave like that.

"Riley, wait!"  
Riley stopped and turned back, but was quickly yelled at by Matt.

"Riley HURRY UP!"

"Riley, don't, you can't go," said Ben quickly. "Just stay here, we can talk-."

But before Riley could say anything, the sound of gunshots rang out in the distance, the loud bangs echoing off the stone walls.  
Everyone's head shot to the doorway, as Brians and Chelsea's indistinct yells could be heard. Clearly the people had been closer than Kyle thought.

"Riley let's GO!" Yelled Matt.

Riley started to follow, but once again Ben's pleas for him to stop made his head turn the slightest of ways back. For Matt it was the last straw.

"You IDIOT! Fine, I'll just shoot them and be done with it-."

He raised his gun at Ben and Abigail and clicked off the safety, intent on firing it when suddenly a hand pushed his arm forcefully away.  
"No!" yelled Riley, frantic. "No Matt, you can't-."  
"FINE THEN!" Matt back handed Riley across the face, causing the younger man to stumble backwards, further into the room. Matt turned the gun then to him.  
"Fine then Riley!" he shouted. "Stay here then! If you want your stupid, traitorous, useless friends then have them!" Matt backed out of the room, his gun staying on Riley as he tried to regain his composure.

"Just remember Riley that we're the ones that tried to save you. When your life becomes garbage, just remember that we tried to save you, but you through us out."  
"No Matt, wait!"

"We clothed you Riley!" Said Matt. "We fed you, we housed you, and we gave you a family! And you chose THESE things over all that! You're a cold, useless, traitorous little liar Riley Poole. And I hope you rot in Hell."

"Matt WAIT! I'm sorry, WAIT!"

But before he could reach him, Matt had pushed the stone door way back across the opening, until it slid to the end with a thud, firmly enclosing everyone inside. All the noise that had been going on outside came to a sudden halt, and then all that was left was silence, and Riley's frantic and uneven breaths. It took him a moment to realise it, but after the shock of Matt having suddenly left him, he realised that everyone was really gone, and somehow he had been left behind. It took another moment to realise something else.

They were locked in.

A/N

Ai yai yai. Not much of a cliffhanger I know, but there ya go.

So... it's been a while. :) *ahem* Sorry about that.

Don't know if this chapter is any good. Most of it has been sitting on my computer for a while actually, but unfinished. I finally got the gusto to finish it off today. I haven't yet re-read the entire story yet, so if I messed up on some of the people or circumstances, I am sorry. I've re-read a little bit, and realised that how I want to tell stories never seem to come across in words quite like they do in my head, so what I had hoped for this story to be isn't exactly what it has become. So basically, I'll continue this if people are still interested, but if not, then I'll move on.

Hope this chapter was alright.

Don't be scared to leave a review, they're quite welcome :)

Again, sorry for the er... delay.

FM


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